Through Time
by TheWriteLife
Summary: Sakura & Ayame Tsuyotomi are legendary cross-species demons who suffered rough childhoods of nonacceptance because of their parents bearing two children of cat/dog mix. Being a victim of Naraku's hatred, the sisters were raised by Kaede and left the Feudal Era when they grew older. Upon returning, they meet Inuyasha & his friends & embark on a wild journey to defeat Naraku.
1. Chapter 1

HI EVERYONE! This is my first fanfic in a LONG..long time and my first one EVER being posted on here. I was inspired by my best friend to pick back up on writing these and I thought I'd post here to share it! When I wrote this, I had COMPLETELY forgotten all about the Ayame of the Wolf Demon Tribe, so this character Ayame is not affiliated with her whatsoever. She doesn't exist in this story (lol sorry!). Also, the original romance "pitches" aren't really typical either. I wanted to try something different for a change and I can only hope that you like it or at least find it interesting. So, happy reading! :)

I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA NOR THE ORIGINAL STORY LINE. THIS CONCEPT IS MY OWN BUT I DO, HOWEVER OWN "Sakura and Ayame Tsuyotomi", "Shinobu and Akira Tsuyotomi" AND ALL OF THE MONSTERS/DEMONS/EXTRAS ARE PURELY FROM MY IMAGINATION :)

CHAPTER ONE

_Sakura_

"I'll kill you, you wench!"

I laughed at the disgusting monster in front of me with his hands shielding his face. I childishly threw dirt into his eyes when I had the chance. I purposely let him catch me and think he had the upper hand of our battle. Little did he know, I was one of the strongest demons walking the earth; past, present and future. Today was just boring and my sister Ayame and I were stopped by some village people asking for help.

A large minotaur-looking demon showed up and started to tear up their poor land. Ayame and I jumped at the chance to help them…Well, more me than her since _I_ was the one looking for excitement. He would've been done for as soon as I laid eyes on him but I wanted to have a little fun, so I toyed with him for a while.

"Gotta catch me first!" I yelled, running right by Ayame and some village men who were in awe at my not being afraid of the demon. The monster paid them no mind as he too bypassed them and headed for me.

"Sakura, would you stop playing around already?" Ayame spoke low and annoyed but I still heard her over the monster's heavy footsteps.

"This is fun! You should join us!"

Ayame shook her head. "No, thanks." She crossed her arms and sighed, following me with her eyes.

Ayame was more reserved than I was. I only acted like her when it was really time to get serious or I wanted time alone and she would act like me when she had absolutely no worries in the world. I was older than her by two years, but she was mentally the oldest. I looked up to Ayame more than anyone else in the world. She's always by my side and there when I need her. I trusted her with my life. We were inseparable.

I stopped flying at my low distance to the ground and stood on it and stared at her. A river separated us. I put my hands on my hips and stuck my tongue out at her.

"Scardie-cat."

Before I knew it, I was flying into the river, face first. The monster was in such a rush to attack me, he swiped at me too early and the wind from his hand caught me off guard and knocked me off my feet.

I swam up to the surface and gasped for air and watched as Ayame bent over laughing, holding her stomach in the process.

"Really?" I asked, dryly.

"That's what you _get_!" She emphasized. "Watch out." She pointed behind me, bringing her hysterical laughing down to a level of giggling.

I turned around to see the monsters foot coming down on top of me. I dove under the water and swam to my left, just missing being stepped on. I flew out of the river and floated eye-level with him.

"Hey! How dare you try to step on me!" I punched him, sending him falling backwards. When he hit the ground, I held my right hand out in front of me and focused on the energy surrounding me. Not a moment later, a blast of golden light shot from my hand, obliterating the monster. I didn't appreciate him trying to squash me like I was some type of bug, so I decided that playtime was over.

I flew back towards the ground with a long face and shook my head, sending water flying everywhere. "Great! I'm soaking wet!"

"Now I am too! Go shake dry somewhere else!" Ayame complained after me.

The villagers that stood by her dropped to the ground in a bowing position. "We are gratefully in your dept. We will bring you clothes and food and have beds to where you may rest tonight." One of the men said.

"The food and clothes are fine, but we won't be needing beds." Ayame bowed to them. "We will be traveling tonight."

"Well, let me take you to get fresh clothing." A woman stood and tugged on my arm and I grabbed Ayame's.

She took us to what I assumed was her own hut and gave us both fresh kimono to wear. Mine was red and Ayame's was white. We changed and she took our wet clothes and hung them by a fire to dry them out.

"Thank you, kind woman." Ayame smiled at her.

I pulled my hair up into a wild bun and Ayame redid her neat ponytail. "Ahh, I feel much better." I said cheerily. "Except…" I looked down at the long kimono the woman provided me with. I wasn't used to wearing such a traditional robe like Ayame was. I always liked to wear gi's or present day clothing from present day Japan; thanks to the magic of time travel with help from my deceased parents.

"Is there a seamstress around anywhere?" I asked the kind woman.

"I am the village seamstress. What is the matter?" She seemed eager to help and I was glad.

"Could you take this up for me a little? And make the pocket sleeves shorter?" I measured how far up my legs I wanted the robe to be and did the same with the sleeves.

"Why, yes. You can wear this until I am through." She handed me a medium shirt with short sleeves that actually looked decent on me. It was peach and the waist tie was black. It was very comfortable.

A little after midday, Ayame and I were preparing to leave. The seamstress was finally finished with my kimono alterations and it came out perfectly. I decided to keep on the shirt she gave me and wear my new kimono over it. I rolled the bottom up to my waist and tucked it neatly into my waist tie. The end of it hung to the middle of my thighs and showed about an inch of the peach shirt underneath. The pocket sleeves hung just low enough for me to hid my hands inside as I held them down at my sides. I grabbed some sandals from my backpack and placed my sturdy black leather suede boots inside of it. I strapped my sandals up and grabbed my bag, heading out of the hut to meet Ayame.

I took a deep breath of fresh air and looked around the village. The villagers all walked aroundin sorrow at the damage the monster had done. I felt bad for them. Houses were knocked down, horses and mules were killed and their crops and gardens were destroyed.

"We can't leave them like this." Sympathy filled my voice and I had the strong urge to help them.

"I know. Maybe we could stay the night." Ayame said exactly what was on my mind.

We gave the seamstress our regrets and asked if we could have beds for the night. She wasted no time at all instructing some children to show us where we would be sleeping.

All day and night, Ayame and I helped rebuild the village and bury the animals and some people that were killed. We went in search and bought them more animals to replace the others.

We fixed up demolished huts and built brand new ones to go the extra mile for the humans. The gardens were better than ever and by night time it looked as if there was never any trouble. Everyone would sleep peacefully knowing that they would be protected by the Tsuyotomi sisters, even for just one night.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

_Ayame_

Sakura and I were awakened at dawn by the village children for breakfast. It was an extravagant meal.

"We wanted to show our appreciation for your help!" One of the little boys explained.

The summer sun was sitting just above the horizon in the east, warming the earth with its rays. The ground looked dry and I made a mental note to moisten the gardens before we left. Right now I wanted some food into my system so I would be energized for today's journey.

"And you couldn't have showed it any other way!" Sakura smiled widely at the boy as he pulled her hands and sat her down at the head of the table in the large shrine we built for them the previous day. It wasn't finished but the village men assured us that they could handle what was left. But the section that was finished made perfectly for a place to have outdoor meals.

I pulled my kimono a little above my ankles and took a seat next to Sakura who wasted no time in stuffing her face with steamed rice, _tamagoyaki_ (rolled omelet) and broiled salmon and mackerel. She was slow to finish her miso soup, wanting to save that for last.

"You two don't look like demons at all. Why, you're so beautiful. So human-like."

I looked at the man adjacent to the left of me, recognizing him from yesterday. "Thank you. All demons don't have to be ugly." I laughed. "We choose to display our human forms to not scare anyone away." I explained.

"Hey," Sakura interjected. "How did you know if we would even be able to help you in the first place?"

"A priestess was passing by when the monster came. We asked for her help but she said there was nothing she could do. She was too weak. She said help was coming in the form of human women and described you perfectly."

"A priestess?"

"Yes, an elderly woman."

I looked at Sakura and she was already looking at me. "Did she carry sacred arrows with her?" I asked the man.

He nodded. "Yes. I asked her about them but she said they would be of no use for battle."

"So, it was Kaede." Sakura mumbled.

I bowed to the man and stood to leave. "Thank you for your kindness and information. We have to get going now." Knowing that Kaede had passed through the village meant Sakura and I had to go pay her a visit.

"Take this with you." The seamstress held up two sacks with containers in them. "Food for your travels."

I smiled and took them, handing one to Sakura. These people were so nice and helpful. "Thanks."

"Oh, wait!"

We were stopped once again by the little boy who was sitting beside Sakura whose name we learned to be Toka.

"If you don't mind," he fidgeted with his fingers. "Can we see what you really look like? We won't be scared. I bet it's pretty cool!"

He looked at us with hope in his eyes as well as the other kids. The adults in the room looked curious as well. I didn't see any harm in showing my true self.

I shrugged, closing my eyes for all of three seconds and opening them again to see everyone staring at me and Sakura.

"Whoa," Toka stretched his word and his eyes. If anything, he didn't even look scared, just as he said. He was intrigued.

Sakura knelt down in front of Toka and wiggled the cat-like ears sitting on top of her head that each had a solid white horizontal stripe near the tips. Her large brown pupils were now red, her fangs were visible and her nails were long. My transformation was the same, except my black eyes turned dark green. But we both sported markings on the inside of our right wrists that read "_Okurimono_" (Gift) in Japanese characters that weren't visible when we were in our human form.

"Do you think this is cool?" Sakura asked Toka. Her warm smile assured me that she was now fully comfortable. She loved being in her original form. She only covered up her true identity for the sake of avoiding rumors or being ashamed of herself in the eye of others, when in all actuality, she wanted to always show the world what she was.

I on the other hand didn't care. Of course it bothered me when someone would call us names or give us disgusted looks, but not like it did Sakura. If I heard anyone talking about what we were and seeing it get to her, I was quick to put them in their place. This was the only time my sister wasn't as outspoken as she should have been.

"Yeah!" He responded.

The kids all ran up to us and tried to get a better look, asking tons of questions.

"You're dogs?" A girl asked.

I looked to Sakura and she motioned me to answer. "Our mother was a cat and our father was a dog." I looked to my left to see some of the smaller kids tugging at Sakura's ears and opening her mouth to get a better look at her fangs. I laughed at the scene and shook my head. The unfortunate things were always happening to her.

"So…you two are the legendary cross-species breed?" The seamstress' eyes grew wide as if she couldn't believe she was actually standing within arms length of Sakura and I. "But…I thought that whole story was just a myth…How is that possible to go against the rules of Mother Nature in such a fashion?"

I shrugged and gave a sideways smile. "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe we'll share our story when we come back one day. But, right now, we have to leave." I said, deciding to finally save Sakura from the torment of awed children.

"We'll miss you." Toka spoke up.

"We'll miss you, too, kid." I'll write you letters and try to come back and visit often!" Sakura hugged him, giving him hope. I know she meant every word. She was already starting to get attached.

Before leaving the village, I stopped by the gardens. I looked over the crops and knelt down, placing a hand on top of the soil. "_Tochi o yashinau_." (feed the land). I said. In the blink of an eye, the light brown soil turned a shade darker, moist with water. Sakura and I waved at the villagers and went on our way.

"I wonder how long Kaede's known about us being in this time." Sakura walked beside me along a path through a forest. "I wonder how she's doing. That man did say she was hurt." She thought aloud, shaping a handful of thin broken off tree branches into arrows.

I wondered too. It's been years since we've spoken to Kaede. She was our caretaker for a long while after our parents were killed. Being good friends with them, she felt it was only natural to do so. She helped us train and awaken powers that we never understood.

My mother's parents shared stories with her about our nature demon ancestors and how they came to develop their powers. As far as my parents mating with one another, it was pure confusion and love. Neither cared for what other people thought of their decision and they didn't care of the outcome. They were in love and Sakura and I were the product of it. To say it was experimental would say the least because they both without a doubt wanted children with one another. They tried and they succeeded. To those who didn't agree or understand, they called Sakura and I "abominations of the world" because our species were unheard of. Of course they weren't. Canines and felines weren't ever supposed to mate. They were opposites. They hated each other. They couldn't be "one". But, my parents proved them all wrong...twice.

Some say Mother Nature would never forgive them and my sister and I would never be accepted into the world and our nature demon ancestors would turn over in their graves for all eternity at what my parents created. This was the cause of Sakura's insecurity with who she really was. When she was younger, she could care less about what people said. But as we got older, she thought about the horrible things people said of us and resorted to only showing herself in human form. When my father learned of this and became more aware, he marked us with the word gift as we slept one night.

"Daddy, why are we so different? Why did you mark us? So people can know who we are as soon as they look at us? Why would you do this?" Sakura asked with tears violently falling from her eyes and she hit him with her small, ten-year-old fists. "They'll only talk about us more!"

Daddy hugged her and pulled me into his large body as well. "That is exactly why I did it, Sakura. Never be ashamed of who you are. _Never_. The only thing that matters is your mother and I's endless love for the both of you." I inhaled and smelled the familiar scent of the canine in him. "When people see those marks, they will know that you are our children. If they talk bad about you, ignore it and tell either I or your mother. It will be taken care of."

"We love you girls." Had it not been for the fierce ears of the mix of both canine and feline in our blood, neither one of us would have known that my mother was near. "We created you. And for that, we just ask you to live your lives without worrying what others say." She picked me up and purred as her face rubbed against mine.

I'll never forget that day. Our parents gave us more confidence than ever and that helped out big time when it came to tuning our negative energy to our training to develop our powers. The stories my mother shared with us were also known by Kaede, from word-of-mouth and thankfully, Kaede was wise and was able to help with the development of our powers.

I was more in tune with nature while Sakura was more in tune with strength and energy. The energy powers came from meditation and becoming one with nature in order to be able to share energy between us- ourselves and nature that is. with each new generation to come, we are able to practice this power and try to perfect it the best we can. Me excelling with my nature powers and Sakura with energy, we cross-trained one another.

As far as time travel, I can't exactly remember how our family came to even conquer something such as that. I never got the full story. But, Sakura and I each wear necklaces that connect to each others like a puzzle piece. When we chant a spell and say where we want to go, we're there.

I know what you're thinking: if we can time travel, how come we can't go back to the time our parents were killed and try to prevent it from happening? Well, going against what we've been told, we still tried. We're not allowed by the rules of the universe to travel to a place were something traumatic happens. I guess it would effect who we are now. So, when we were older, we traveled to what would be known to Feudal Japan as present Japan. We stayed there for some time until we both decided it was time to avenge our parents' death and kill the demon known as Naraku.

"Maybe she was in battle with something." I said, looking up into the clear blue sky. Just thinking about my ancestors and these special powers my sister and I had made my head spin. It was all too much. It didn't seem real at all.

"Eh," Sakura put the arrows she made into her backpack and threw her hands behind her head. "Kaede is way too old to be battling with anyone."

"Well, you don't have to be such an asshole about it."

"It's true! She's probably like one hundred years old now."

"Sakura!" I yelled at her. it was hard to believe she had a heart of gold because she always had something to say.

"Fine, fine. Let's get some scattered clouds, though. I love the sun but it's burning me alive." She looked to the sky and shielded her eyes.

I sighed and gave my right index finger a little twirl and light clouds slowly came into view, blocking the sun.

"Mm, that's better. How about a breeze?" She put her arms back behind her head and closed her eyes in satisfaction.

I glared at her and swung my left arm hard in her direction. The wind I produced knocked her off of her feet and into the bushes to her right. I laughed as she held her sack of food in the air which was now untied from the bottom of her backpack.

"Hey, your speed is faster. Great job." I complimented.

"What the hell was that for?!" She sat up with twigs and leaves decorating her dark red and brown hair.

"Next time ask, or at least request more politely. Serves you right."

"Ugh!"

"Now, come on. Kaede's village is up ahead." I waited for her to climb out of the bushes to continue walking.

"What if she's mad at us?" Sakura brushed off her kimono and carried her food in front of her.

"Why would she be mad?"

"She didn't stop for help at the village back there and she didn't stay behind to meet up with us."

I kept my gaze ahead and Kaede's village came into clear view from the forest. "She probably just wanted to hurry home. Don't over-think the situation." Truth-be-told, i was also a little nervous. We haven't been in contact with Kaede in a while. No messages, letters, visits, nothing. All I could hope for was for her to be understanding as to Sakura and I wanting to get away and prepare for what was to come with the mission we bestowed on ourselves. There's no way she could be mad at that.

We reached Kaede's village and her house quicker than I anticipated. We were in our human form so uncomfortable stares wouldn't make my hands sweat any more than they already were.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the wooden beam of Kaede's hut. "Kaede?"

"Ye may enter." She responded.

I looked at Sakura and went inside first with her following.

"H-hey, Kaede." I gave a small wave just as she turned around from her potion mixes to face us.

Kaede had definitely aged. Last we saw her, her skin was tighter, her hair was black and she had a strong posture. Standing before us now, her skin was slowly wrinkling, her hair had grayed up and she had a curve in her spine causing her to slump over a little when she walked.

She looked at us with a wide eye that wasn't hidden behind an eye patch. "Ay, I knew ye had aged but I didn't imagine you so youthful and beautiful. Ye are still children, of course-"

"We're grown now, Kaede." Sakura cut her off with narrowed eyes. She was such a hot head.

"Ye will always be children to me, Sakura."

"So, like, you aren't one hundred years old yet?" Sakura pointed a finger and asked her the question she mentioned to me earlier about how old Kaede had gotten from the time we haven't seen her.

"My age is none of your concern." Kaede challenged back.

"Thanks for the compliment, Kaede." I nudged Sakura and she huffed. "We have food."

"Nice of ye to offer." Kaede wiped her hands on a wet cloth and then on a dry one after she put her potions away.

Sakura put her food down and sat her backpack in a corner. She extended a hand towards the wood under the large kettle full of water. Her eyes glowed red as she said '_hi o tsukeru_'(light a fire) and flames danced at her command.

"Ah, still cross-training? How is that going?" Kaede asked, taking a seat in front of Sakura and I as we laid out food. Sakura lit another fire and set the fish above it to be heat up. She heat the rest of the food with energy through her hands while holding the containers so we wouldn't have to depend on just one fire.

"Pretty darn good, as you can see." Sakura boasted. "Ayame is the best teacher ever." She stopped short at the last of her sentence. "No offence. You're pretty great too, Kaede. Heheheh."

"None taken, child."

Sakura's eyes narrowed again and her cheeks got puffy. "Stop calling me that." she said through gritted teeth.

"So, you're not mad at us, are you Kaede?" I asked, handing her a pair of chopsticks.

Kaede shook her head and gave a small smile. "Not at all, child. I am excited of your return. Please, tell me of your travels."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

_Inuyasha_

"Heheheh, take that, stupid demon." Another day, another victory and another jewel shard added to the collection to complete the Shikon no Tama. I was proud of myself by the way I handled my Tetsusaiga. I could feel myself getting stronger with every battle.

"Ew, it stinks so bad!" Kagome complained with her nose covered, inching closer to the decapitated demon to retrieve the jewel shard.

"Stop foolin' around, Kagome! Get the hard and let's go!" I yelled in frustration. Humans could be so useless sometimes.

"Don't yell at me! How about _you_ come get the shard since you're so immuned to the smell?" She yelled back at me.

"Fine!" I stomped passed her and Shippo over to the head of the demon, only to be stopped dead in my tracks, feeling a painfully burning sensation beneath my left foot. I looked down and saw smoke coming from underneath my foot. The green ooze from te inside of the demon was acid and it was burning my skin off.

I screamed out in pain, scaring everyone and falling backwards onto the ground, shaking my foot in the air. "Wh-what the hell! Get it off!" I panicked.

"We can't touch it!" Shippo said. "Uh, try dragging your foot across the ground!" He impulsively suggested.

I wasted no time in taking his advice. It hurt like hell to add more pain to what was already bad, but it worked. I threw myself onto the ground and panted heavily, trying to catch my breath. Kagome, Shippo and Miroku all crowded around me.

"Are you okay, Inuyasha?" Miroku questioned.

I refused to open my eyes once I shut them as if I would be able to see what my foot looked like if I did. "Is it bad?"

"Bad enough. Let's hurry back to Kaede's village so she can whip up some potion to help you." Kagome dug into her yellow bag for her First Aid kit and started wrapping my foot up.

I sat up and saw Sango sitting on a flying Kilala's back, poking at the shard with a stick. "Heads up!" She warned.

Shippo jumped in my view to catch the shard Sango flicked our way. "Got it. Here you go, Kagome."

"Thanks, Shippo. Alright, Inuyasha."

"He can ride back to the village on Kilala if your bike is too much trouble, Kagome." Sango suggested.

"That's fine. Let's just hurry before something else happens and this acid creeps up my leg or something." I limped to Kilala and hopped on behind Sango.

"Oh, calm down. That won't happen." Kagome waved me off and instructed Miroku on how to stand on the back of her bike thingie as Shippo hopped in the basket.

As we neared Kaede's village, I picked up the scent of demons nearby. My ears turned back and forth as my eyes scanned the area. I grabbed the sheath of my Tetsusaiga. Damn, if only I wasn't rushing into trying to get that jewel shard my foot would be okay.

"Is something wrong, Inuyasha?" Sango asked looking back at me over her large boomerang, Hiraikotsu.

Kilala wasn't on alert as I was but she was sniffing the air. I waited a moment before I answered Sango.

"It's nothing." I placed my hand back on her side, holding on as Kilala trotted the rest of the way back to Kaede's village.

We made it to the old woman's hut in no time. I carefully dismounted Kilala and pat the feline on her head in thanks. "Hey, old hag, I need a favor-" I pushed open the curtain to Kaede's hut and stopped in the doorway. "You've had cats in here?" I growled, ready to fight. The longer I stood there, the more scent picked up into my system. It was cat, dog, nature, sweetness and a hint of oranges. "And dogs? And why does it smell like dirt?"

"Hm, are ye not a dirty canine demon, Inuyasha? And is Sango's furry partner not a feline herself?" Kaede challenged me.

I huffed and put up a hand to silence her as I stepped inside and sniffed around on all fours.

"What happened to your foot, Inuyasha?" she asked me.

"He stepped into some flesh-eating acid after defeating a demon." Miroku entered the hut with Shippo on his shoulders, following Kagome and Sango. they all sat down and got comfortable. I blew air out of my nose, unsatisfied that I couldn't find the source of these mixed smells.

"We were hoping you had a potion that could help heal him faster." Kagome spoke for me as I took a seat beside her, glancing at the fresh arrows sitting in a corner near Kaede.

I crossed my arms into my shirt and propped my right foot up, knee-to-chest as Kaede unwrapped my left foot and observed it.

"What's the rush? Let it heal on its own time." Shippo crossed his arms and turned his nose up at me.

I punched him in his head and a large knot grew where I hit him. "The jewel shards are the rush, you idiot!"

"Hey!" Shippo cried. "Kagome!"

"Inuyasha, leave Shippo alone!" Kagome snapped at me like always.

"We've been at this for weeks. Can't we rest for a while? I'm beat." Shippo complained.

"I didn't want to say anything, but I could use some rest as well." Sango chimed in.

"And I need to go home and get more supplies. I only have one more pack of ramen. I should leave tonight."

With everyone talking about needing rest and being tired, I just felt like I should take this journey to Naraku alone like how I intended to before I met them all anyway. I hated to sit around when I had a mission to complete.

I growled by instinct from irritation. "You guys can do whatever you want but I'm going with or without you."

"It doesn't look that way." Kaede broke her silence.

"What are you babbling about?" I rose an eyebrow at her.

"I don't think there is anything I can do to speed up the healing. I can only provide ye with something to keep the pain down."

My eyes stretched and there was no doubt I had a sad expression on my face. "Huh?!"

Kaede finished cleaning my wound. "By the looks of it, ye will just be out of commission for a couple of days. It's already healing at a steady rate." She wrapped my foot with clean bandages and handed me a potion to drink.

I gulped it down. "Ah, it doesn't matter. If I have to, I'll still fight- foot wound or not." I made up my mind. "But I _am_ the strongest so I guess I'll stay here and look after you all." I threw over my shoulder.

Standing, I headed out into the village, going nowhere in particular. I had been on my feet all day, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to rest for a while. I stuck my head inside Kaede's hut for a brief moment and asked Kagome if she would prepare the last pack of ramen for me before I jumped in a nearby tree to keep an eye on the area.

Minutes had passed and the mixed smell from earlier tickled my nose. I sat up on the thick tree branch with my legs dangling on both sides and looked around. My eyes landed on a girl with her hair in a ponytail wearing a white kimono.

My eyes narrowed and a low growl escaped my throat. The girl paused and looked around. There was no way on earth a human could hear the sound I just made. It was barely audible. But she heard it. The way she paused was like she stopped to check her surroundings. The strong cat smell was evident as well as the dog smell. I'm not sure what she was, but I was going to find out.

When I thought about getting down to get a closer look at her, she went inside Kaede's hut.

"Huh? What could she want with Kaede?"

My right ear turned outwards, following the sounds of trees falling to the ground in the distance. I forgot about the girl and leaped to the direction where the trees were falling, making sure to take it easy on my foot.

_Ayame_

"Kaede, I can't find Sakura anywhere." I sighed, walking into her hut. Talking with Kaede earlier about our reason for leaving must have had her thinking way too hard. She said she was going on a walk and was gone for two hours now. I started to worry about her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had guests." I apologized. "I'm Ayame." I waved.

"Geez, you're really pretty." A little fox demon said, making me blush. "My name is Shippo and this is Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kilala." He did the honor of introducing everyone.

My eyes gazed over the group and landed on the kitten with two tails that Shippo pointed out to be Kilala. My eyes burned with threatening tears that I did my best to hold back. I recognized her instantly. Saber tooth's similar to her were one of the main bloodlines in my family. When Naraku killed my parents he killed a lot of my aunts, uncles and cousins in the process, trying to get to them. It's been a long time since I've had contact with any of my family. As far as I know, Sakura was the only family I had left.

I forced a smile. "Thank you, Shippo. You're pretty cute, too." Kilala walked up to me and sniffed, circling me in the process. Without warning, she jumped into my arms and showered me with kisses. I couldn't help but laugh and feel welcome by her. "She's so adorable."

"Hm. She usually doesn't warm up to people so quickly." Sango smiled.

"Guess this is a good thing then, huh?" I scratched Kilala behind her ears and listened deeply at her purring. It soothed me. Put me in a happy place. It reminded me of my mother.

She jumped out of my arms just as the monk named Miroku approached and took hold of my hands, staring deeply into my eyes. "Your beauty is impeccable. Please, would you do me the honor of bearing my children?"

My face dropped and I instinctively forced my hand to his face and sent him falling to the ground. "You don't even know me, you jerk! No, thank you!"

"Miroku!" Sango's voice elevated into a threatening tone followed by a smack. She placed her hand imprint on the opposite side of his face from where mine was.

"Forgive me, I just can't help myself." He whimpered with a smile.

I shook my head. He was so straight forward. Judging by Sango's instant anger I'd be crazy to think she didn't like him in some kind of way.

"I wouldn't worry too much about your sister, Ayame. She does seem to think she can take care of herself."

I laughed at Kaede's statement and took a seat beside her.

"Sounds like a certain someone I know." Kagome mumbled. "Shippo, could you please let Inuyasha know his ramen are ready?" She requested, digging a pair of chopsticks out of her yellow bag.

The smell of the noodles reminded me of Sakura. She loves those things. Maybe I'll make her her ultimate favorite dish tonight- seafood medley Lo Mein.

"Inuyasha?" I questioned. "Would he happen to be resting in the tree hovering this hut?" I knew I smelled the scent of a dog around when I was walking back. His growl made it even more obvious of his presence.

"Yep, that's him. My handful of a best friend." She rolled her eyes with a smile. "So, Ayame, how do you know Kaede? If you don't mind me asking."

"She was close friends with my parents. She took my sister Sakura and I in for a while after they were killed."

Kagome's face grew sad. "I'm so sorry to hear that." She placed a hand to her chest, unsure of what to say next.

I smiled at her. "Yeah, it's okay. You don't have to be sorry. The one who did this will pay." I said with confidence. "We stopped by to visit Kaede for a few days before we continued on with our journey."

Before Kagome could ask another question, Shippo came back into the hut. "Kagome, Inuyasha isn't around anywhere." He informed.

Kagome frowned with a groan. "Why would he leave when he's the one who asked me to make- wait…" She stopped.

"What's the matter, child?" Kaede was aware of Kagome's alertness.

"There's a jewel shard nearby."

"Not again," Sango sighed. She reluctantly stood and strapped a large boomerang onto her back and slid a sword into her waist tie.

I wanted to know more about her- all of them actually, but I knew now wasn't the time, seeing as how they had business to attend to.

"That must be where he ran off to. He probably smelled trouble." Miroku stood and grabbed his Shorinji Kempo.

Just by their weapons and outfits, I knew so far that Sango was a demon slayer and Miroku was a monk. Kagome was dressed in a school uniform so there was no doubt she was from the present. Her comment about the famous jewel shard instantly revealed to me her spiritual priestess powers. They were a very interesting group to get to know.

"We'll be back shortly, Kaede." Kagome snapped a plastic top onto the bowl of ramen and put them in her backpack. She grabbed what I knew were her own bow and arrows and rushed out of the hut.

Before I could say anything to Kaede about our talk from earlier, my wrist pulsed. I pulled up the sleeve of my kimono and my _okurimono_ mark was visible. I was still in my human form, though. That could only mean one thing.

"Sakura."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

_Sakura_

Talking to Kaede earlier overwhelmed me. It was too much to think about, too much to handle. I don't get it, though. I was just fine these past few days. Why was I feeling so anxious all of a sudden? Was it because I was actually following through with getting revenge for my parents? Was it because I was back in the feudal era instead of the present where I had little next to nothing to worry about? Maybe it was a combination of both. I wish I knew. What I did know was that I wanted to be alone for a while and I knew just the thing to help me relax on a hot summer afternoon; a soak in a nice cool lake.

I found one a couple of miles north of Kaede's village. I checked the area and was glad to find I was there all alone. I dropped my backpack and stripped myself of my clothes and jumped into the water. It felt so nice. So nice that I changed from my human form to my demon form. It felt good to be free and be myself; something I felt I should be more often. I had no problem with showing who I was until I was ten years old. I paid more attention to what people would say about me and my family. It made me hate myself and what I would become.

I swam to where I jumped into the water and leaned against a boulder. I slumped down into the water until it was up to my nose. I sighed and held up my arm and read over the marking of my father. No matter how much I didn't understand what I was and why some people hated what I was and my parents for creating me, I still accepted who I was. Ayame and I were gifts. Even still, why did things have to be so complicated?

A loud cracking sound put me at alert. My ears flickered back and forth and my eyes rapidly checked my surroundings. A heavy energy was heading in my direction. So much for a little relaxation.

I quickly got dressed and reverted back to my human form just in case I was wrong about the energy I felt and humans showed up instead. I wasn't in the mood to deal with any 'it's a demon' confrontations. I was strapping my sandals on when some trees fell close to my area. Suddenly, a new energy was approaching. It was coming at me fast from the south. It couldn't have been Ayame. The scent was very unfamiliar. Whatever it was turned me serious; not that I was even in a playful mood after that talk from earlier. I braced myself and prepared to engage in a two against one battle. My right wrist pulsated.

My parents were always watching over Ayame and I. When this happened, it was their way of alerting either me or Ayame that the other was in need of help. They were signaling her that I needed her and telling me she was on the way. And judging by the size of this Cyclops, I was probably going to need her.

_Inuyasha _

Damn my foot! The potion Kaede gave me only eased my pain a little. I could still feel pressure every time I landed on it in all of two seconds. I tried to ignore it the best I could as I kept running and leaping from tree to tree, trying to see what demon was causing all the commotion so close to the village.

The earth vibrated beneath the heavy footsteps of the demon that suddenly came into my view. I didn't expect it to be so close so fast and it looked as if it was stumbling backwards and heading right in my direction.

I drew my Tetsusaiga and stood firmly on the ground, preparing to attack. "Wind Scar!" I swung Tetsusaiga with force towards the demon and golden energy tore into the ground and cut through the heat in the air.

Aware of my presence, the demon turned to glance at me and moved out of the direct path of my Wind Scar and only his right arm caught the attack.

"Dammit!" I swore. I was even more surprised when his arm reattached to his body. "What the? He must have a jewel shard! Now I have to find out where it is."

The Cyclops turned his back on me and that left me shocked. I've never been ignored during a battle before.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" I heard a female's voice on the other side of the demon. I sniffed the air and I noticed that cat-dog scent I picked up back in Kaede's hut. The same one I smelled on the girl with the ponytail.

I ran around to the other side of the demon where I saw a girl lodged deep into a large rock sticking halfway out of the ground. I froze, unable to move or speak. What the hell was she doing here and who was she?

"Did you do that? What's your deal? This isn't your fight!" She yelled at me, removing herself from the rock and standing in a defensive pose.

"What are you trying to do, get yourself killed out here? Stupid human girl!" I yelled back. She was saying something but I wasn't hearing her. The Cyclops swiped his left arm in her direction and I ran and tackled her into the lake with my Tetsusaiga in tow, avoiding him smacking her into the woods. Then it hit me- she had the same scent as the girl from before. Why did I just call her a human? Her physical appearance confused me for that split second.

When we came up for air she groaned loudly, smacking the water. "Every time I fight I'm always being pushed in water!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You just stay out of my way!" She snapped. She was really starting to piss me off.

"I was only trying to help!"

"Thanks, but I can handle this. Now, stand back!"

"Handle it how? You're just a.." It was about to slip out again, until her glare shut me up.

She looked at me with red eyes that were just brown three seconds ago. I looked to the top of her head and ears similar to mine but were slightly bigger sat at attention. She floated out of the water and I noticed her nails were longer and there were markings on the inside of her right wrist.

"I'm not a human." Her long fangs showed when she talked.

She paid me no mind as she charged the Cyclops and sent him flying backwards onto the ground. I was stunned. Curious. Confused. Intimidated. Who and what the hell was this girl?

"Inuyasha!"

I heard my name and turned to see Kagome and the others running towards me. I climbed out of the water and shook dry.

"Are you okay? I felt a jewel shard nearby."

"I'm fine." I turned my body back towards the battle at hand.

"Whoa, who's she?" Shippo questioned.

"Sakura!"

Everyone looked behind us to see the ponytail girl from earlier run up to the other girl and the Cyclops. She sprinted past us at lightning speed and without warning, air-kicked the demon in his large stomach so hard that she sunk into the middle before the rest of his body rippled and he fell back to the ground, roaring in anger.

"_Osaeru_ (restrain)!" She swung her arms in an upward motion with the other girl and thick vines shot up from the ground, restraining the demon in his place.

I looked to the red-eyed girl whose eyes were now glowing the color of her pupils. "I'm not in the mood to play around. Let's just finish him." She said to the ponytail girl.

"Wait a minute!" I called out. "There's a jewel shard in there I need!"

Her eyes stopped glowing and she looked to the ponytail girl flying across from her. "No wonder he regenerated."

There was a blast of energy and the demon's right arm was quickly separated from his body. Ponytail girl brought the arm over to us out of his range and struggled to hold on to keep it from traveling back and reconnecting. I hurried to her side to help keep it still. "I'm guessing it's in here somewhere." She said, standing firmly on the ground, still portraying a human.

Kagome located the jewel shard and I did the honor of retrieving it.

"Ayame!" The other girl yelled with alert filling her voice. "It's Naraku."

Everyone gasped. I grabbed Kagome onto my back and Sango, Shippo and Miroku hopped onto a full grown Kilala's back and headed over to the stomach of the wailing Cyclops.

The girl peeled back the shirt it was wearing and Naraku's spider mark was engraved into his rough green skin.

"He knows we're here." Ayame stared at the familiar mark.

"Naraku is looking for you?" Miroku posed the question on everyone's mind.

"No. He knows we're looking for him. This is his invitation." Ayame said.

"We need to inform Kaede." The demon girl said to Ayame. She held a hand out and the red glow returned to her eyes. "_Kuiiruyoni miru_ (devour)."

The earth rumbled beneath us and started to open up and proceeded to swallow Naraku's puppet. We all headed in the direction of the village. These two girls had a lot of explaining to do.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

_Inuyasha_

Sakura and Ayame Tsuyotomi. Who would have thought that mere myths and legends of "nature's abominations" were actually true? It was kind of hard to believe myself. No wonder I smelled the scent of cat _and_ dog on each of them. I was still confused as to why I hadn't thought of that before but at least now I got some answers.

I sat off in a corner of Kaede's hut and stared at my re-bandaged foot as the sisters shared their story with us. My arms were crossed inside my robe made from the hair of a fire rat and Tetsusaiga was resting on my right shoulder. Interesting enough, they too were seeking revenge on Naraku for the death of their parents and some family members.

"Maybe you two could join us." Kagome suggested.

"No way!" I blurted out before thinking twice.

"Don't be rude, Inuyasha! There's no harm in them coming with us!"

I gripped Tetsusaiga as I leaned over onto my left hand so it wouldn't slide down my shoulder. "We don't need anyone slowing us down! We're already losing valuable time as it is with my foot being messed up and you leaving for home until tomorrow."

Shippo jumped in my face and pointed a finger at me. "You're so mean!" He slapped his hand across my cheek. He was so small it didn't affect me but it still made me mad.

I snatched him up with both hands and growled in his face. He surprisingly growled back at me. "Why you little-"

"You're just mad because your stupid foot was almost burned off! Stop acting like this towards the rest of us!"

"You've gotten a little bold over the days, haven't you?" I asked in a low voice. I tossed him to the side, leaving him to roll right out of Kaede's hut and re-positioned myself as I was before.

"Humph. Come along if you want but I ain't slowing down for anyone." I closed my eyes and turned my nose at the group.

"Aren't those your spirit beads around his neck, Kaede?" I heard Sakura ask in an already knowledgeable tone.

"Yes,"

"Hm, spiritual beads around a dog demon's neck."

I narrowed my eyes at her. What was she trying to get at, exactly?

"And if I were to command him to do something to shut him up, wouldn't the correct word be 'sit'?"

The beads around my neck pulsed and slammed to the ground, pulling me down hard with them. I crashed into the boards of the hut with shock written across my face. I rolled over onto my back and groaned. "How the hell did you do that?!"

Kagome laughed. "Two people being able to do it? Great! Ayame can you do it?"

"Sit." Ayame spoke. Again, I was slammed deeper into the ground. "This is so cool."

"You two must have spiritual powers as well." Kagome was interested.

"Something like that." Ayame scratched her head. "But, our powers are a story for another time."

I sat back up and clutched the beads around my neck. "Dammit to hell, Kaede! Get rid of these stupid beads!"

Kaede shook her head. "No chance, Inuyasha. They are bound to ye just as ye are bound to them."

Sakura stood. "Well, we wouldn't dream of slowing anyone down." She grabbed a black backpack and started towards the flap of Kaede's hut. Shippo just walked back inside. "Let's go, Ayame."

"To where?" Ayame asked.

"We should really be on our way." With that, Sakura left the hut without another word.

Ayame turned to bow at us. "Sorry, everyone. She just needs some time. It's been kind of a crazy day. It was nice meeting you all."

"It's all Inuyasha's fault!" Shippo snarled at me.

"I've had just about enough of you, Shippo."

"I don't care! You should be apologizing to them."

"It's okay. I guess we'll see you guys around." Ayame left the hut.

I gave out a low huff. Me? Apologize? For what? I wasn't the one with the problem, it was that Sakura girl. If anything, she should be apologizing to me for sitting me. Speaking of, I wanted to know how the _both_ of them were able to activate the command. It was bad enough that Kagome alone could do it!

"Inuyasha, Shippo is right." I heard Miroku say.

I rolled my eyes. "Not you, too."

"You must learn to take others feelings into consideration." He continued. "There is no harm in letting them travel with us. We all have the same goal in mind, which is to destroy Naraku. Besides, they're rumored to be two of the strongest demons walking the earth. What would be so bad about them joining us?"

Hearing him say that two girls were probably the strongest demon's walking the earth made me itch. Yeah, right. Listening to him, Kagome and Shippo grill me for my attitude was starting to actually make me feel bad, though. I guess I didn't have to say what I did, but I was just being honest. Maybe it had more to do with the way I said. I admit that I was pissed about my foot and my first encounter with Sakura. She didn't seem too happy about my interfering with her fight but how the hell did I know she could handle herself?

"Plus, more beautiful women to keep us company is beyond perfect." Miroku made an 'okay' sign with his fingers with a goofy grin on his face.

"You would say that." Sango cut her eyes at him. She moved her hand into a patting motion only to realize Kilala was no longer on her lap. "Hey, where'd Kilala go?"

_Sakura_

Ayame walked beside me in silence. I actually planned to go back to Kaede's before the nights end, but right now I needed fresh air. Hopefully I'd be in a better mood by tomorrow when Ayame and I would continue on our journey to seek Naraku.

That Inuyasha had some nerve talking to us the way he did and interfering with my battle against the Cyclops. Who the hell did he think he was? He was being such an asshole! His friends were nice, though. I smiled at the thought of them with warm smiles on their faces. They were so nice to Ayame and I. Deep down, I did hope to see them again. Ayame and I loved to be in each other's company but we often times wish we had friends to talk to and travel with.

"You know what, Ayame?" We reached a meadow and I lied myself down on the warm grass, taking in the suns rays. Ayame sat beside me and put her arms behind her for support.

"I know that Inuyasha pissed you off back there."

I growled low and rolled by eyes. "The correct answer to my question was 'what?'. Not the obvious."

"Just putting that out there," She threw her head back and closed her eyes with a smile.

"Hm. Well, I want to take Kagome up on her offer. Having company does seem like a weight lifter, don't you think?"

"Mhm." She hummed. "Especially since they have the same goal as us."

When she said that, I instantly thought of Naraku. The last time we saw him was the night he killed our parents. They put up a fight to protect us since we were only 10 and 12 and couldn't fully protect ourselves yet. The last words they each said to us were "protect one another" and my mother followed my father's words with "we love you". Naraku then tried to attack us and our parents both transformed into a large menacing dog and a beautifully dangerous cat with sharp fangs that stood at attention when she growled.

Knowing that their time had come to an end, they transformed to keep going strong in the last battle of their life. I held onto Ayame as we watched our father tackle Naraku to keep him from reaching us. My mother stood in front of us, her hind leg alone blocking us both from Naraku's view.

My mother gave a loud roar as our father went flying into our castles walls but quickly gaining his footage.

"Lady Akira, Lord Shinobu! I've got the children!" Kaede ran to our rescue with her black hair swaying behind her and bow and arrow in her hands.

Naraku tried to attack Ayame and I again but Kaede shot a sacred arrow through the smoke and flames in his direction and pierced his right shoulder. He cried out in pain and our parents took a few seconds to nuzzle their large noses close to Ayame and I so we could hug them one last time.

"Take good care of them, Lady Kaede." My mother requested.

Kaede nodded and gathered Ayame and I into her arms. We simultaneously turned into small kittens from fear. "I will." Kaede paused to look both of them in the eyes a moment longer and ran to exit the castle…

I stared at the dark blue sky above and a yellow butterfly fluttered in my line of vision. The cat in me lightly swatted at it, wanting to play. "Yeah," I responded to Ayame absently as the pretty insect landed on the tip of my nose. I smiled and closed my eyes as a light breeze washed over me. God, I loved nature so much. It was peaceful. Tranquil. Meditating.

"Are you doing that?" I asked my sister.

"Nope."

I heard soft footsteps and a low growl and opened my eyes and sat up to sit Indian Style, sending the yellow butterfly on its way. Sango's cat demon companion walked over to Ayame and I in her large form.

"Oh, hi, Kilala. What are you doing here?" Ayame pat her head as Kilala approached and knelt down in front of her. Kilala circled around and stretched to lie behind the both of us, as if she were protecting us, just how my mother would do sometimes, only Kilala was a lot smaller than my mother's true form.

I turned to my left and wrapped an arm around Kilala's neck and leaned into her, scratching beneath her chin. She purred and held her head up to give me better access. I rubbed my face against hers and purred with her.

"She reminds me so much of our family…so much of mom." I thought out loud.

"And we might remind her of hers. Maybe we're cousins…Well, distant cousins. The cats in our immediate family only had one tail. Kilala has two."

"Yeah. Either way, she's okay with me." My ears flickered and I pulled my face away from Kilala's. Someone was approaching.

"Sakura? Ayame?" It was Kagome, Sango and Shippo.

"Oh, there you are, Kilala." Sango said. Kilala made a low meow sound but didn't move from her spot. Sango shook her head and walked to sit on the other side of Kilala. "She's so comfortable with you guys." Kilala licked Sango's cheek and lay her head on her lap.

"Ayame seems to think we might be cousins."

"That's pretty interesting." Shippo jumped out of the basket of Kagome's bike and onto Ayame's head. She surprisingly didn't seem to mind. "We're sorry about the way Inuyasha's been acting. We hope he didn't scare you away." Shippo said apologetically.

I laughed and sucked my teeth. "Scare us away? Not in a million years. I just needed some fresh air."

"And I came to keep an eye on her. We were pretty sure we'd see you guys again." Ayame added. "Actually, we decided we'd join you on our search for Naraku."

"You will? Awesome!" Kagome gave a large smile. "I have to get going now to get more supplies. I'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow!"

"How are you getting to the present?" I asked.

"You know about the present?"

I nodded. Ayame and I left the part about us time traveling out of our story when we shared it with them. We just mentioned that we left for a while and was just now returning.

"We travel there sometimes. We use these pendants that our parents gave us." Ayame pulled hers from inside her kimono and I did the same.

Kagome gawked at the puzzle pieces of Ayame's Waning Gibbous moon and my Waxing Crescent moon. "That's so cool! I have to travel through the Bone-Eater's well." She nodded her head to the right and I looked at the well at the edge of the meadow I didn't notice before. "People used to throw demon remains down there. But I guess it's not too bad since I'm used to it. Say, do you need anything? I'm getting food, first aid supplies and stuff."

I looked to Ayame for an answer. "I think we should just go with you. I could use some things from the grocery store and an actual stove."

...

So, what I have been itching to do is post more than one chapter since I have a lot of chapters already typed and ready to go. I've been wanting to update feeling like it's been FOREVER when it's actually only been 3 days lol I just get to excited to share my work and get feedback. I haven't been getting as many reviews, but my read count has slowly been going up and that still makes me happy! It makes me even more happy when I see how big of a platform this is and I have people from Mexico, Singapore and even China reading my work! So thank you all! :D

So, if I myself feel like nothing really "happens" in a chapter, I'll most likely post more than one a day, so continue on with the next chapter! :)

Thank you to DreamRealm3 for reviewing so far! I smile so hard when I get that email saying you reviewed and when you followed my story and faved it! I love you! :)))


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

_Ayame_

Even though Sakura and I just left here, it felt good to be back in the present. I didn't have to worry about anything and I could let my guard down for a change. Instead of going home first like usual, Sakura and I teleported to Kagome's house so she could pack her bags with what she needed.

"Wow, you got here a second faster than I did." Kagome climbed her ladder to get out of the well and I hopped in to get her bike up afterwards.

As we followed her out of the shrine and towards her house, I nudged Sakura to put her ears away. She quickly made them and her okurimono marking disappear and her eyes turned brown again. She smiled her thanks. Once she was herself it was easy for her to forget to transform back to human form when needed.

"I'm home!" Kagome walked into the house and removed her shoes. Sakura and I did the same to show our respects.

"Hello, Kagome. Back so soon?" Her mother said as we walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I need more supplies before we head out tomorrow. Mom, these are my new friends Sakura and Ayame Tsuyotomi.

Kagome's mother smiled at us and we waved our hellos.

"Did you say Tsuyotomi?" We turned to see a short old man turning the corner into the kitchen.

Kagome sighed and had a silly annoyed look on her face. "I did, Grandpa."

"Are these really the Tsuyotomi sisters?"

"Yes, but please, no talismans." Kagome held her hands up in our defense. "They are, of course, good demons."

"Do talismans really work?" Sakura whispered.

"When they come from Miroku himself, they do." Kagome gave a nervous laugh.

"I have so many questions!" Kagome's grandfather held a finger in the air.

"Grandpa, they have groceries to get and they have to get back to the Feudal Era. That will have to wait." She said, reluctantly.

"Although, one of your questions has already been answered. The time travel part of our legend is true. You see we're here, right? We just can't travel through the well as Kagome can." I smiled and followed Kagome to her room, leaving her grandfather in awe.

"So beautiful." I heard him mutter.

After gathering the needed ingredients for tonight's dinner and some days ahead of us, we took Kagome to a small house right outside of the city that was built just for us by our parents when they were alive. I remember coming here as a child when they wanted to get away from the feudal world. This is where Sakura and I retreated to when we left for a long period of time to get our heads together.

A sense of calmness rushed over me as I entered the house. The air smelled of oranges and the AC blew cold air throughout all of the rooms. It was a one-leveled three bedroom two bathroom house with an attachment out back that Sakura spent a lot of time in when she was doing her paintings. For it to be small on the outside, it was pretty spacious inside.

"This is neat." Kagome looked around and joined me in the kitchen as I started to season the seafood for dinner. She watched as I had thawed the seafood through its plastic packaging with my hands. The curious look on her face was too cute. "Can I help?"

"Sure. Would you mind chopping the vegetables and heating those two pans with a little oil?" I asked, motioning to the stove.

"So, what are you making?"

"A seafood medley Lo Mein. It's Sakura's favorite. I hope it cheers her up some. She seems out of it."

"Oh. I've never heard of Lo Mein before. What is it?"

"A Chinese noodle dish. You can make whatever kind you want. Vegetable, seafood, chicken, beef. I'm making more than enough. You're welcome to however much you want." I offered.

Kagome smiled and poured olive oil into a pan and turned on the stove to medium heat. "Thank you."

There was silence for a moment and I heard the shower water come on a few minutes after the washing machine in the hallway closet started up.

"I really hope Sakura will be alright. Inuyasha really can be such a jerk."

"Trust me, she'll be fine. She can be the ultimate asshole too. These circumstances are just lame right now." I laughed. I stepped over to the stove and began placing shrimp, scallops and chopped lobster into the heated oil. "So, tell me, how long have you all been in search of Naraku?" I asked, preparing the noodles.

Kagome stopped chopping the vegetables and looked into the air and thought about her answer. "I'd have to say it's been about a year and a half now." She finished the vegetables and stood to the side and let me finish cooking the rest of the food. "We've come across him and fought before, but that was nothing really since he ran away. So after that, it's been a while."

"I'll say." I flipped some of the scallops over, keeping a close eye on them so they wouldn't burn. "Since Sakura and I will be helping you, maybe it won't take much longer."

"I hope not. We should be getting closer because we've collected most of the jewel shards." She pulled a small bottle out of her shirt that was tied to a thin rope around her neck and looked at the jewel shards that were in her possession so far. "Collecting even more will lead us to Naraku or the other way around since they're what he's after."

I removed the scallops from the pan and threw the vegetables in to replace them and shuffled all of the ingredients together. "Could you chop those for me?" I asked Kagome of the scallops.

She nodded. "Sure. This stuff really smells good."

She was boosting my ego. I knew I could cook but I still loved to get compliments. "Wait till you taste it."

While I finished up the meal, I got to learn Kagome a little more. She was a really sweet girl. Very charismatic and intelligent. At only 17 years old the only flaw in her life is traveling back and forth between the present and the past. Her grandfather would come up with all sorts of illnesses to excuse her absence from school while she traveled to the Feudal Era to help collect the jewel shards and fight by her friends. Loyalty was definitely a strong characteristic in her personality.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" As soon as the question slipped out, I regretted it. It was very unlike me to ask personal questions to someone I just met. Being back home was starting to make me very comfortable. Because I didn't have anything to worry about and I let my guard down, I acted a lot like my sister. I shook my head at myself and looked over to see Kagome blushing and playing with her fingers.

"Nope. No boyfriend."

"But…you like someone?"

"Well, there's actually two people."

"Playa, playa." I smiled, making her laugh.

"One guy is here. His name is Hojo and he goes to my school. He's really sweet. The only thing is, he isn't as tough as I would wish for him to be. But, that's okay I guess. There isn't really any trouble in the time and when there is, he at least _tries_ to be tough. I'll give him that much. The other guy is Koga. He's the leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe back in the Feudal Era. He's arrogant as ever, but he protects me and he's funny. His friends already call me their sister."

She gushed over him. She must like this guy the most. It's almost too obvious. "Will you stay here in the present once the jewel is full again?"

She gave a small sigh. "I'm not really sure. I love being in the Feudal Era but I miss being home. I guess it's just one of those things I'll have to figure out along the way." She shrugged. "What about you?"

I flinched. "What _about_ me?"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" She poked.

"Heheh, hell no! No boyfriend for me."

Kagome crossed her arms and bumped her hip against mine. "Oh? You have your eye on someone as well?

I turned off the stove and mixed the seafood, veggies and noodles together and added a seasoned sauce to top everything off. "A boyfriend is the least of my worries." I shook my head. "If he comes along, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Mm, I feel _so_ much better! That shower was the best! I smell seafoooood."

Sakura came around the corner dressed in a large white long-sleeved t-shirt with black designs on it and some jean shorts.

"If you didn't have a nose you'd still smell food." I sweat-dropped. She tried to sneak a piece of shrimp from the wok but I popped her hand with my metal chopsticks. "Hands off. We're about to leave."

"Aw, but it's my favorite." Her ears drooped low with her shoulders.

"Which is why I made it, but wait until we get back to the Feudal Era. I made enough for the rest of our new friends, too."

Sakura crossed her arms and turned to leave as I put a portion of Kagome's food in a bowl for her.

"Thanks, Ayame."

"Don't mention it."

"I gotta get going. See you guys in the morning!"

"See ya later, Kagome!" Sakura and I waved at her from the front door. "Now, I'm going to take my shower. Don't touch any of this food or I will kill you…and you will go to bed hungry." I threated Sakura. She was lying on the couch eating a container of potato chips and reading a book. She tore her eyes away from the page long enough to laugh at what I said and stick her tongue out at me.

"I mean it, Sakura!" I said, going into my room.

"Yeah, yeah!"


	7. Chapter 7

Merry Christmas eve all you fellow readers! I'm not really feeling the holiday spirit this year since I'm older lol but when I was younger, my sister and I were allowed to open one gift the night before Xmas (and we'd usually choose to see what we had in our stockings). So to kinda share our tradition with you, I decided to update today. I wasn't going to since I JUST updated with 2 chapters, but what the hell? Lol My views have risen a little and I'm glad! I'd like more reviews, though, pretty pleaaaase :) anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this little chapter!

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CHAPTER SEVEN

_Inuyasha_

The sun was almost completely set and the temperature started to lower. It felt really nice outside during the evenings. I lay resting in my usual tree with my hands behind my head, staring into the sky when an interesting smell caught my attention.

I looked to the ground to see Sakura and Ayame entering Kaede's hut with some kind of containers in their hands. I hopped down from my post to check it out.

"We bought food." Ayame said cheerfully. Her and Sakura each passed someone a container and they found places to sit and get comfortable.

"Here," Sakura handed me one without making eye contact and sat beside Ayame.

I sniffed the container and opened it up. "Ninja food!"

"Ninja food?" Ayame asked.

"What kind of Ninja food is this?" I proceeded to ask without really waiting on an answer. My mouth watered at the delicate smell of shrimp, scallops and lobster and some spices I couldn't quite put my finger on. I've never had my food cooked so strangely, but it tasted way too good for me to really care.

"It's seafood medley Lo Mein."

"Med-lee low main? What the heck is that?" I asked with my mouth full.

Sakura made a sound that was mixed between a laugh and her trying to hold back a cough so she wouldn't spit her food out. I blushed and tried to hide my embarrassment.

"Medley Lo Mein." She said slowly, the words rolling off her tongue. "It's a Chinese dish. It just means there's different seafood mixed into the Lo Mein, which are the noodles. Vegetables are added sometimes. Gives it a healthy touch."

"Ohh," I cooed. She was actually talking to me without an attitude.

"Well, I like it!" Shippo shared. "Did you cook this, Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope, Ayame did."

"This is delicious, Ayame. Thank you for sharing!" Sango smiled in satisfaction.

"I agree. Thank you." Miroku nodded his head towards her.

After dinner, everyone pretty much decided they wanted to rest. Kaede showed them to some vacant huts and they went on their way. I, however, declined. I wasn't very tired. Thoughts of my foot and destroying Naraku kept me awake.

I went back to my spot in the Oak tree above Kaede's hut and stared at the moon. It seemed to shine brighter tonight than any other night. Half of it was gone and consumed by darkness. It was only a few more days until a new moon.

I hated new moons because of who they made me become. I was only a half demon so the human in me has to come out sometimes, right? Well, new moon nights make me the most vulnerable person ever. I lose all of my demon powers and turn 100% human. I try to keep that a secret, though. Only Kagome and the others have seen me in that state before. Oh, and that old hag, too.

I try to stay hidden on those nights. If anything, the one person I really needed to keep my secret from would be Naraku. If he ever knew he'd take the opportunity to strike. I didn't need that problem on my hands. That's why I'll be glad when the Shikon Jewel is full again. I can use its powers to become a full-fledged demon.

"I'm going to wash these. I'll be back, Ayame."

I sat up and looked below me to see Sakura in her weird future clothes, heading into the forest with the containers from earlier in her hands. I don't know what made me do it, but I followed in behind her, jumping from tree to tree.

She stopped a little ways north and knelt down at a river and began to wash out each container and set them aside.

"She came all the way out here for water when there's a river in the middle of the village?" I rose an eyebrow and watched her from a few trees behind the clear opening to where she was.

"Of course I did. I didn't want scraps of food to be washed into the pure village water when I know this stream doesn't cross paths with that one."

I flinched, forgetting that she could hear as well as I could. I groaned and crossed my arms.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you had some feline in your blood somewhere." She said, placing another container beside her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your curiosity. Why were you following me?"

I didn't have an answer to her question besides the truth, but revealing that wasn't an option. I wasn't about to make myself sound crazy to her. "I just…wanted to make sure you were okay." I stammered. I put my palm to my face and frowned. So much for trying not to sound crazy.

"I'm pretty sure you know I can take care of myself by now."

"Yeah, whatever." I looked away from her.

"Hey, listen,"

I turned my head back towards her and watched as she stood with the wet containers in her hands. She walked to the base of the tree I was sitting on and leaned on the one opposite of it so she would be facing me.

"I just wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier. I wasn't in the best mood and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. So, I'm sorry."

I could see the shyness on her face and the light blush on her cheeks with help from the moon light even as she had her face turned away from me. It must have taken a lot for her to say that. Now I had to apologize. Great. Then again…I guess Shippo and Miroku were right.

"Well, I'm sorry too…for being so rude to you and your sister." I placed a hand on the back of my neck and stretched my mouth as if it pained me to apologize to her. I was just glad that I got that out of the way. Now there was just one more thing…

I jumped down from the branch I was sitting on to come face-to-face with her. "Also, I wouldn't mind you two traveling along. You are useful demons and your help would be appreciated." I looked anywhere but at her until I heard her snicker. "What is it?" I said, a little irritated.

"We were coming with or without your 'permission'." She used air quotes.

I glared at her and she just continued to smile at me. I looked her up and down. Her right leg was crossed over left as she leaned back, showing off a lot of leg in her short pants. Her shirt was loose but it still fit her nicely. Her black shoes looked heavy but she didn't seem to mind. She did have the strength to walk in them, after all. I felt a little shy examining her the way I was and quickly glanced away and crossed my arms. Looking at her made my body temperature rise and my cheeks flush.

"Where'd you get those weird clothes from anyway? Did Kagome bring them back for you before she stayed in her time?"

"Huh? No. These are my own. I washed my other ones back and home. Ayame and I can travel through time. You do know the legend, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah." I had forgotten all about that.

"How is your foot?"

I looked down at the bandages covering my foot. "It's okay, I guess." I shrugged.

"You should really stay off of it, ya know. I'll heal faster." She kicked off of the tree and started to walk back to the village.

"Eh, I'll be fine. So, tell me about this time travel business."

Sakura stopped walking and waited until I caught up with her to start talking. What kept me interested in her story was not only the story itself, but the fascination in her voice as she was speaking. She went from explaining the process of traveling through time to other things like her ancestors and some of the powers she had.

We both got comfortable in my Oak tree and talked for hours. It was a really interesting conversation and as much as she talked, I never got tired of hearing her voice.

Maybe she had the potential to be my friend. And if not that- seeing as how we butted heads having strong opinions about certain things during our talk- hopefully we would be able to get along long enough without clawing each others heads off.


	8. Chapter 8

MERRY CHRISTMAS FELLOW READERS! I hope you all have an amazing and fun day and you got everything you asked for! I didn't have any expectations or whatever, but I've gotten money so far and I have gifts waiting. At a few family members houses lol Anyways, my gift to you guys is two new chapters! Happy reading!

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CHAPTER EIGHT

_Sakura_

I narrowed my red eyes at the monk in a questioning expression. I was in the middle of enjoying my _tamagoyaki_ when he turned towards me and snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me close.

"What the…?" I froze along with everyone else inside Kaede's hut.

"Dear Sakura, I never had the chance to ask you this before…but, your beauty strikes me and I wanted to know if you would do me the honor of bearing my children."

I was speechless. This had never happened to me before so I had no idea how to respond or react. I looked to Kagome for help.

"Is…is he serious?"

"As serious as serious can get." She replied, looking at Miroku with disapproving eyes while she continued to eat her food.

I turned back to Miroku and peeled his hands off of my waist. "Uh, no thank you. Haha. I'm good."

Sango walked inside the hut with a pale of fresh water in her hands. Her bangs covered her eyes and she took a seat between me and Miroku. I gladly slid over closer to Kagome. Without warning, Sango punched Miroku in the back of his head.

"Serves you right, Miroku." Inuyasha said with his arms crossed inside of his shirt.

Shippo hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder and shook his head. "He'll never learn."

"We'll see you later, Kaede!" Kagome bid farewell as we all prepared to head out on our journey to Naraku.

"Take care, children." Kaede smiled.

My ear twitched and I held up a fist at her. "Not a child, here."

"Please, be safe." Kaede waved and headed back inside of her hut to continue working on her potions.

"Well, which way should we go?" Sango questioned. She adjusted the green skirt she wore over her pink patterned kimono and made sure her boomerang was secure on her back.

"That Cyclops came from the north, so I think we should head that way to see where it takes us." I suggested. Ayame shouldered my backpack and I thanked her for carrying it, even though I could have.

"It better take us the _right_ way because we don't have any more time to waste."

Since Inuyasha's foot was back to normal he'd gotten a bit arrogant. Kagome assured me that this was nothing new and he was just getting back to being his old self again. He and I had had a pretty interesting talk the night before. It felt good to have a normal conversation with someone who wasn't disgusted at what I was. At least he didn't seem disgusted. Maybe because he was a mix of two species himself. But to me, his mix seemed to be much more normal than mine and Ayame's. Needless to say, even with the little arguments, I still thought he was pretty cool so far.

"Hm, how about if your nose tells you otherwise then you take the lead?" I put my hands on my hips, looking up at him sitting in the Oak tree.

Inuyasha advanced towards me after hopping down from his tree and paused to look down on my 5'5" height as he closed the gap between us. "Gladly." His growl was playful and deep as he started to walk in the direction I suggested we take.

"I'll catch up with you guys. I have to go see someone in the next village over." I turned in the opposite direction, strongly fighting the urge to bite my bottom lip at what he just did.

"So, you tell us where to go then leave us? What if we have to fight?" Inuyasha complained.

I sighed. "Are you all of a sudden not capable of fighting without me?" I asked sarcastically, hoping I'd hit a nerve. I knew already that it annoyed him to hear any sort of hint of a woman being stronger than he was.

Just as I suspected, he growled but this time it wasn't playful. "Forget it! We don't need you!"

He was acting like a stubborn child. It was actually kind of cute. "Like I said, I'll catch up with you guys. Coming, Ayame?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

"The Tsuyotomi sisters are back!"

I smiled at Toka as he announced Ayame and I's presence to anyone who was listening. Mostly little kids came running up to us wanting to play. Ayame showed her true form for their amusement but didn't stay knelt down long enough for any of them to tug at her ears.

I, on the other hand, picked Toka up and sat him on my shoulders and let him play with mine. He wasn't rough like some of the other children so it didn't bother me. He mostly just laughed and lightly swat at them or tried to catch them when I would flick them from side-to-side.

"Has everything been okay since we left?" Ayame asked, walking in unison with me. The kids scattered away from us and continued to play with one another.

We walked around the small developing village to speak to some of the adults and make sure they were okay.

"Everything has been great! The shrine is finished and the gardens and animals are doing very well." Toka explained, finally catching my ears and scratching behind them.

A low purr escaped from my throat and I smiled. His tiny fingers felt so good scratching behind my ears that it almost tickled.

"Will you be staying the night?" He asked, hope filling his voice.

"No, not this time." I answered, noticing we were now alone as we walked. I felt some of his weight drop onto my shoulders and knew he was bummed about my answer. He also stopped scratching behind my ears.

He wrapped his arms around my head and leaned down on top of it. I laughed and put him down on the ground and sat beside him in front of one of the small crop fields growing vegetables.

"We just came to visit and make sure everything was okay before we left on our journey."

"Journey? Can I come with you?"

I shook my head. "No. I would hate for you to get hurt. This is a dangerous journey. You have to stay here."

"Oh," he said, sadly.

"I'm still going to write you, though." I said with a smile. He smiled back and I was glad he was satisfied with that.

"Sakura. We gotta get going." Ayame appeared from nowhere wearing a sky blue kimono with yellow flowers decorating it.

"What happened to your clothes?" I asked of her jeans and fitted t-shirt she returned to the Feudal Era wearing.

"I'm not messing my good clothes up in this time, girl, you crazy?" She rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

I laughed and shook my head. "We gotta go, Toka." I hated to leave this kid for the second time. He was so cute. "You wanna water the veggies?" I gestured towards the crops.

"Sure!" He grabbed a wooden pale with water in it and was confused when I told him he wouldn't need it. The village seamstress walked up to us and stood by, watching.

"Here." I took his hands and placed them on top of the dry dirt. "Now, repeat after me…" He nodded and prepared himself for whatever was about to happen. "Close your eyes and concentrate."

"Close your eyes and concentrate." He repeated. "Wait, what is that gonna do?"

I sweat-dropped. "I said that in the wrong order."

"Very smart." Ayame said to my right.

I ignored her and repeated my instructions to Toka. "Okay, I just want you to relax and concentrate and say '_tochi o yashinau_'." I lightly gripped each of his wrists.

"_Tochi o yashinau_."

My hands gave off a light golden glow and Toka let out a short gasp as I know he felt water shoot from his hands and directly into the ground, turning the soil dark.

"What just happened?" He asked, standing. He looked at the dirt covering his palms and smacked his hands together to clean them off. "I feel strange."

"You watered the vegetables. I transferred some of my power to you." I explained. "Now you won't have to fetch water to water the gardens. You can do it all by yourself. Just say the words I just told you."

"Are you kidding me?" His eyes glistened with excitement. "Mom! I have water powers! Did you see what I did?" He ran over to the seamstress and tugged on her kimono, pointing at the ground.

"That's incredible!" She exclaimed.

"Thank you!" Toka ran over and hugged my legs. I knelt down and held him tight. "Now I'm special just like you and Ayame!"

I held my breath. Besides my parents, no one else had ever said Ayame and I were special before. A smile tugged at my lips and tears threatened to escape my eyes. He was the sweetest kid ever. He'd always have a place in my heart.

"You were already special, Toka."

He pulled at my ears and scratched behind them one more time. I purred and rubbed my face against his.

"I'll only water the lands. I'll be very responsible." He said into my hair and shoulder.

"Good job." I still held him, not wanting to let go.

...

Small note: I've been informed that in the manga, Inuyasha is only 5'5". I never knew of that before and it's been such a long time since I've read the manga, but I decided to make him a little taller, around 5'11" and if I was going to have Sesshy make an appearance then I was going to make him like 6'2 or something lol Just so you guys know :)


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

_Kagome_

"We're back!"

Everyone looked behind us to see Sakura and Ayame floating to the ground from the sky.

"Took you long enough." Inuyasha rolled his eyes at Sakura. He was being really moody lately and I couldn't exactly figure out why. Thankfully, Sakura didn't take it personal.

"…Did you miss me, Inuyasha?" Sakura clasped her hands together in front of her and invaded his personal space, rubbing a shoulder to his chest.

Inuyasha blushed but tried to hide it with dominance. "Not a chance!" He barked.

"Yeah, right." Ayame snickered, appearing in her signature human form.

"Is everything okay?" I asked the sisters, gripping the handle bars of my bike.

Sakura threw her hands behind her head and smiled at me. "Everything is perfect."

The sisters fell in with the group's stride and we continued in the direction we believed Naraku would be in.

"You know, something doesn't seem right." I broke the silence.

"What do you mean, Kagome?" Sango asked with Kilala sitting on her left shoulder.

"That Cyclops. Why do you think Naraku's spider mark was on its stomach instead of its back like the others?" There was another moment of silence between us before Miroku agreed with me.

"That is pretty strange." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure what his reasoning for that would be."

"It's probably nothing." Inuyasha said from my left. "At least it was on there and we knew it was him. That _is_ his calling card no matter where it's marked."

"But, you never know with Naraku. I wouldn't put anything past him." Sango added.

"Kagome,"

"Yeah?" I glanced back at Ayame.

"Didn't you tell me that Naraku was also looking for the Shikon Jewel, the other day?"

I stopped my bike and turned to look into her black human eyes. "Hey, you're right."

"What does that mean?" Shippo asked, sitting in my bike's carry basket in the front.

"That Cyclops had a jewel in his arm. Why would Naraku not take it from him and send him to attack as is?" I pieced together and questioned out loud. "Had he taken it out maybe he would have killed the monster in the process just to get it."

None of this was making sense to me. Naraku has always had his own way of doing things, but when he switched it up it threw us off.

"Maybe he's just trying to confuse us." Inuyasha came to a final conclusion, even though his face showed he was still pretty skeptical himself.

I got ready to continue pedaling forward. "Yeah, let's try not to think too much into it. It was just on my mind." I shrugged.

"Great observation, though, Kagome." Miroku said.

Thunder struck above us and we hadn't even started back walking again. It hadn't looked like any signs of rain today but the sudden grey clouds in the sky told a different story.

"Ayame?" Sakura growled.

Ayame held her hands up. "Don't growl at me! Mother Nature still has a mind of her own, ya know! Since when do you hate the rain anyway?"

"Since I've been more in contact with water the times I don't want or need to be. Can't you make it stop? Tell me how to do it." She held her palms face up to the sky ready to follow her sister's instructions.

Ayame shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. I can only stop what I start, which goes for you as well. I can't alter natures work." She explained.

"Great. I knew I should have grabbed my umbrella when we went home."

I kicked myself. I was always prepared for major disasters but when it comes to certain things such as umbrellas, I always forget to pack them. I looked around and unfortunately there weren't any villages around as far as my eyes could see. We were too far from Kaede's village to turn around and go back for shelter.

"You're acting like such a house cat." Inuyasha picked at Sakura and she nudged him with her arms crossed.

"Let's see if the forest trees can provide some shelter." I shielded my eyes from the little droplets of rain.

Inuyasha picked up my bike and we all headed for the forest. The rain was just getting started but it wasn't that bad. The trees were a little helpful in keeping us dry until the rain proved it was stronger than the grassy leaves above us.

"I guess we'll have to wait this out." I dug into my yellow back and pulled out a handy jacket I had inside.

"Come on! It's just a little rain!" Inuyasha stood in front of everyone with his hands out and at the end of his sentence the rain fell harder. He glared at Ayame who covered her head with Sakura's backpack.

"It wasn't me! I'm not messing with nature today! You'll know if it's me, trust."

"Inuyasha, we're not going anywhere. So we might as well try to build a make-shift roof or something!" I half yelled over the sound of the rain.

Summer storms weren't uncommon but they rarely happened. It's been a while since one has occurred and why nature chose today of all days to bring one upon us is beyond me. I wished Sakura and Ayame could do something about it.

"Sakura, let me see your pendant." Ayame said, holding her hand out for the necklace. "I'll be right back." She took off somewhere into the forest before anyone could ask her where she was going.

Sakura shifted towards me and held on to the other end of my small jacket to make sure her head was covered. "You comfortable?" She asked and I nodded.

I looked to Sango, Miroku and Kilala and they were all trying to make the best out of the situation using Sango's green skirt as a cover. Shippo snuggled up close to me and just stared out into the forest in front of us. I felt Sakura being pulled away from my side and closer to Inuyasha as he removed his robe and covered both of their heads with it. It was the most adorable thing ever!

I guess he felt me staring because he glanced at me then looked away. "How sweet of you, Inuyasha." I picked at him.

"Just be quiet, Kagome! I'm only trying to help."

"I'm back!"

Ayame returned to the group wearing a long plastic poncho with extra ones in her hands, even two for Shippo and Kilala. I always hated to wear those things but I sure was happy to see her passing them out.

"What are those things?" Shippo asked as I helped put his on after I got my own on.

"It's called a poncho. It protects you from the rain when you don't have anything else to keep dry with."

"Neat!"

"Thanks a lot, Ayame." I said.

"Don't mention it."

"So, now can we continue on instead of waiting around like sitting ducks?"

I looked to see Inuyasha pulling his poncho over his head. "I suppose so."

"I'm up for it." Miroku chimed in.

"Ah-choo!"

"Bless you, Kagome." Miroku said with a little worry.

"Thanks. I don't even know where that came from. Ah-choo!"

"Bless you." Everyone said at once.

Before I could thank them again, a gust of wind stirred the leaves and sticks around us and into the air. Inuyasha gave out a loud yelp and everyone put their guards up, waiting until our view was clear again.

"Inuyasha?" I worried. The first person I saw when all of the leaves fell wasn't Inuyasha but the young leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe.

"Kagome! I heard you sneeze! Are you alright?" Koga held my cold hands into his strong warm ones and stared deep into my brown eyes with his turquoise pools.

"Oh, Koga?" I was surprised to see him. "I didn't sense the shards in your legs at all."

"Probably because I've gotten faster." He boasted with his fists placed on his hips.

"What happened to Inuyasha?" I looked around with everyone else.

"I'm up here!"

Inuyasha was tangled in branches in the trees above us. Koga moved so fast with the help of the jewel shards in his legs we didn't even see he knocked Inuyasha out of the way to get to me. He detangled himself from the trees branches and jumped down, getting in Koga's face.

"Okay, you flea-bitten wolf! You better be glad Kagome couldn't sense those shards and I couldn't smell your stench, otherwise that wouldn't have happened!"

"What's the matter, mutt? The rain too strong for your little puppy nose?"

Inuyasha growled at Koga and Koga growled back almost more viciously than Inuyasha. I was starting to get nervous. These two would fight anywhere at any time and now wasn't any different from the other times. "Um, okay you two." I stepped between them.

"Humph. Never mind all that. Why do you have my Kagome out here in this rain?! She'll get sick!"

"Koga, I'm fine- ah-choo!" Stupid sneezing. Koga suddenly scooped me up into his arms and looked at me with eyes I could get lost in for eternity.

"No, you're not. Come on, I'll take you to find some shelter." He turned around and whipped his tail into Inuyasha's face and took off running, leaving my bike and my friends behind.


	10. Chapter 10

Happy New Year you guys! You have any resolutions? Mine is to get better as a person overall and set new goals to accomplish! Of course, that's every year though: to just strive for the best! I hope everyone is having a great 2015 so far. Here's a new chapter! Enjoy! Please review!

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CHAPTER TEN

_Inuyasha_

"So, _that's_ Koga?" Ayame lazily pointed in the direction that stupid wolf took off with Kagome in.

"Well, do we follow them?" Sango asked in confusion.

"Yeah, let's go." I huffed. I tried picking up Koga's stench after a few steps but stopped walking when I hit a dead end. I couldn't smell it anymore. Kagome's either. "Dammit!" I put Kagome's bike down and got on all fours to sniff the wet ground.

"This way," Sakura stepped over me and led the way.

I groaned, picking up Kagome's bike again and followed in behind everyone.

We came up on a cave not too far from where we stopped at the forest. Kagome and Koga were alone, sitting in front of a fire. Kagome stood when she saw us and rummaged through her bag, pulling out Ninja food.

"I figured we could all eat until the rain died down." She said thoughtfully.

Sakura and Ayame did the honor of boiling water to soak the noodles in so we could eat. Nobody really talked during the meal. Glances were just being shared. It disgusted me to be anywhere near Koga and see him flirt with Kagome. As her best friend, I naturally wanted better for her.

"What brings you around here, Koga?" Miroku asked, trying to start conversation.

I finished eating and sat on the far side of the cave to have some space. The fire warmed my clothes dry and I had to admit I was glad to be comfortable again.

"Just had to get away from the tribe for a while. See what was going on in the world." He slid Kagome closer to him in an attempt to keep her warm.

I closed my eyes and leaned against the cave all and relaxed a little.

"Without your comrades?"

"Yeah. I wanted to be alone. They can never keep up with me anyway, so I told them to stay and watch over the tribe. What are you guys doing traveling with the Tsuyotomi sisters?"

"Oh, so you know them?" Kagome asked.

"Sure I do. Their father and grandfather fought beside mine and our clan in wars years ago. They got along very well."

"If that's the case, how come you and Inuyasha won't bury your differences?" Shippo asked sarcastically. "Aren't dogs and wolves part of the same family?"

"Practically." Sango gave off the same tone in her voice.

I didn't even open my eyes to acknowledge them. I just let out a "humph" and crossed my arms.

"I'm above that mutt. I could care less about getting along with him. All I know is, there will be trouble if my Kagome is in any harm." He got loud and spoke in my direction.

"For Kagome's sake, the least you could do is get along." Ayame giggled.

"Yeah, well, I'm not interested."

Kagome sneezed. "It's pretty chilly in here even with the fire burning."

I looked at the cave opening and Sakura sat, staring out at the rainfall. Water dropped onto one of her ears and she flinched a little. She slid over and swatted at the droplets that fell from the top of the cave. It was sort of…cute.

Kilala transformed into her larger size and went to sit behind Kagome and Koga. Koga had never been so close to Kilala before so he was hesitant about leaning into her frame as Kagome had done. He decided against it and went towards a pile of firewood and grabbed a few pieces to add to the fire. Ayame chanted something and the fire in front of them grew into a large flame which brought more heat and light to the dark cave.

I saw Sakura get on her feet from my peripheral and looked to see if something was wrong. Since I couldn't smell anything due to the heavy rain, I secretly relied on her, Ayame, Shippo or Kilala's reactions to know if something was off.

Sakura was standing at alert. I couldn't see anything from where I sat, so I went and stood beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Some people are coming this way."

I looked out into the rain and saw nothing. I hadn't even sensed any energy yet. I instantly became frustrated. All of her cat instincts were intimidating me no matter how much I tried to ignore the emotion. Since she was mixed with canine as well, her senses were sensitive ten-fold how much mine were. A growl creped from my throat and I was about to say something when she held a hand up.

"Wait…there." She nodded her head in the direction of the first few people and I saw shadows approaching us.

First there were three shadows, then five, then nine, then twelve, then about thirty. The closer they got to us the more distinctive their looks became. They were all dressed in soldiers clothing with armor and each of them had weapons of some sort.

"Something tells me they didn't come to join us around the fire." I said, cracking my knuckles, ready for action.

"Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" I sniffed the air a few times. "These men are dead."

"Yeah, and one of them is alive. Whichever one it is smells of Naraku."

I turned to look at her. "You _smell_ Naraku?" It had been some time since I was around Naraku and any of the incarnations he cast from his body and sent out into the world. This rain was really killing me. I could hardly smell anything, let alone these dead soldiers. "How can you be so sure?" I hated to sound skeptical of her during a time as serious as this, but I couldn't help myself.

"It's hard to forget the foul stench of the man who killed your family…killed your parents. I remember it all too well." Sakura's demeanor was tainted with hatred when she spoke of Naraku. I could feel her energy rubbing off on me.

When the others came and stood at the cave entrance, the army of soldiers before us was neatly lined up about twenty feet away. Even though they were dead, they all stood strong. Their skin was pale and grey and their eyes held no life. They were covered in scars and dark stains which was probably their blood or the blood of others. Naraku managed to disturb these perished soldiers from peace just to get them to do his dirty work. What a coward.

Sakura stepped out into the rain with Ayame beside her, both rid of their ponchos. I followed and instructed Koga to keep Kagome in his eye sight.

"Where is your leader?" Ayame's small voice grew loud to be heard over the summer rain. It slowed down some but I would be happy when it completely stopped.

"She is among us." All of the dead soldiers responded at once.

"_She_, huh? You know, for all of you to be dead, you sure are some smart-asses!" Their answer pissed me off.

"You are of no concern." They all said to me.

"What do you want? Who sent you?" Ayame asked before I could say anything to provoke them without getting the answers we were looking for.

They all pointed whatever weapon they had in their dead hands in our direction. "We came for the jewel shards." They ignored Ayame's second question.

"What?" Kagome said, stepping closer to Koga.

"You'll have to get through us first!" I challenged, ready to fight.

As if on cue, the rain suddenly stopped. The dark grey clouds still hovered in the sky, being pushed lightly by a breeze, hiding the sun.

All of my senses were as sharp as before the storm and I was more than ready. I zeroed in on the droplets of water Sakura was playing with earlier as they stilled dripped from the top of the cave. After three more drops, they silenced. A flash of lightning and rolls of thunder cut through the hot, muggy air and the dead soldiers all charged at us.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

_Inuyasha_

"Inuyasha, get down!" Sango yelled from behind me. "Hiraikotsu!"

I ducked and Sango's weapon flew over my head, hitting the whole first row of dead soldiers. As soon as I could see the next row, I charged at them, clawing their heads off. Once a handful went down, I turned to the nearest set and took care of them as well.

"Watch out, you mutt!"

I turned to see Koga coming at me from the left and using the strength from the jewel shards in his legs to kick through three soldiers standing behind me with their weapons in the air, ready to try and kill me.

"Uh, thanks I guess." I said, punching a soldier, not really wanting to apologize.

"Watch your back before you get killed!" He spat, drop kicking a soldier to his right.

"Whatever! I could've handled it!" I instantly regretted thanking him. He was so full of it. "And why aren't you watching Kagome like I told you to?!"

We stood back-to-back with one another. "Shippo's got her covered so I can be out here to help fight."

I looked towards the cave and Shippo was using his Fox Fire and spinning top to keep the soldiers away from Kagome.

"We need to get closer! It's the jewel shards that their after, remember?" I yelled to Koga and the others who seemed to spread out to fight rather than staying close to the cave and Kagome.

"Ah-choo!"

A sacred arrow flew right past my face that made my heart race. If I had attacked the soldier in front of me like I planned to before Miroku did, that arrow would've went right through my head.

"Why does it seem like they're multiplying?"

I ignored Koga and turned to the cave. "KAGOME! You almost killed me! Watch what the hell you're doing, for Christ sake!" The realization of me close to death had me furious.

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T TRY TO DO THAT! I sneezed, okay?"

"That's all you have to say for yourself?!"

"Ugh, sit boy!" She screamed. "I _said_ I was sorry! You jerk!"

I was going to give her a piece of my mind when this battle was over. How could she sit me in the middle of a fight like that?! Just what the hell did she think she was doing?

I pulled my face out of the ground and was about to stand back up to fight when an arm shot up from the soil and grabbed my neck, holding me in place. I tried to push off from my feet but only to be stuck even more with the arm's grip tightening.

"What the hell is going on?" I was in no position to grab Tetsusaiga or try to claw at what I couldn't see under my neck.

"Brace yourself, Inuyasha!" I heard Sakura yell, running in my direction.

I tried to get a good look at her to see what she planned on doing and all I was able to see were her red glowing eyes as she punched hard into the ground right beside me. I felt the earth start to rumble beneath me and Sakura then said "_josho_" (rise).

On her command with a lift of her hands, tree roots and vines lifted the unknown from below with me locked in its grip, pulling me closer as I went into the air with him. I drilled a fist through his chest and he released his arm from my neck.

"There are more of them coming from the ground!" Sango dodged a soldiers attack with her boomerang, looking to her feet to make sure the hands sprouting near her didn't grab her legs.

"Wind Tunnel!" Miroku stood at the cave entrance and used his cursed right hand to suck in the dead soldiers around him.

I drew Tetsusaiga. I was tired of playing around. I needed to find out which one of these things were part of Naraku. "Wind Scar!"

Just as quickly as I wiped them out, another wave surfaced. Damn Naraku! I scanned the soldiers to see if one of them stood out from the rest when Sakura slammed into me, sending both of us flying. She looked at me and pushed off of my chest, spinning upside down onto my shoulders and landing behind me on her feet all in one motion, the feline in her not wanting to land any other way. She had her arms wrapped around me as I lay in front of her, our bodies still sliding until her back crashed into the side of the cave.

"Are you okay?"

Since she started fighting, not once had she stopped or even paused to catch her breath, it seemed. But here she was, sitting here with her hands on both my arms, looking down on me to make sure I was okay before she continued to fight.

"I just got a little ambushed over there." She continued once I didn't say anything.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine. Thanks for the save." I pulled myself up and used my Tetsusaiga for support.

"Cease!" There was a large gust of wind and all of the dead soldiers stopped fighting at the sound of the woman's voice that spoke.

My nose picked up a familiar smell and a hint of a putrid scent mixed with it. I was just now noticing it but this must have been what Sakura meant when she said she smelled Naraku. It was Kagura.

_Ayame_

All of the soldiers surrounding us stopped all movement at the sound of a woman's voice. I followed the scent of Naraku and looked in the air to see a pale woman with her short black hair in a high pony-tail floating to the ground on a large feather with a fan in her hands.

"What do you want, Kagura?" Inuyasha snarled at her. "I know that was you controlling these dead soldiers with your Dance of the Dead technique." He swung his Tetsusaiga to his front, keeping his guard up.

I looked around to see that none of the soldiers had moved an inch since she came out of hiding. Something was up. Naraku had definitely been playing with us.

"Naraku wants the jewel shards." Kagura simply said, sticking the now transformed feather into her hair, making it look like a regular decoration.

"And he sent you and your dead army to get them?"

Kagura growled at Inuyasha's insult and raised her fan in the air. "Dance of the Dead!"

In an instant, all of the soldiers charged everyone towards the cave in an attempt to reach Kagome.

"Ayame! Shield Kagome!" Sakura yelled, trying to hold back at least seven soldiers from knocking her over. She had been using her nature powers just as I taught her and she was doing a pretty good job from what I've seen. Now it was time for me to really test what she's taught me.

I shoved two soldiers off of me and restrained them to the ground with help from some vines I summoned and ran over to Kagome. She stood with an arrow pulled back in her bow, ready to fire if necessary.

I stood at her side with my hands out in front of me, pulling energy from the lightning strikes in the sky above the clouds. Small bolts of electricity appeared and disappeared around my hands as a small golden shield started to form in front of me.

"Come on, come on." I concentrated and the shield grew large enough to cover Kagome and I. I was relieved because a sword was heading right in my direction and hit my shield instead of my face. The force from the blade caused little bolts of lightning to show up at the point of impact.

Koga kicked the soldier away that threw his sword at me as he ran towards me with intentions of forcing my shield down.

"Got that thing up just in the niche of time, Ayame!" Kagome glanced my way with a smile.

"I'll say." I gave a nervous laugh.

"Dance of Blades!"

I looked ahead and saw three crescent-shaped blades headed my way, splitting the army of dead soldiers in two as if they were parting the Red Sea. I couldn't react fast enough to try and counter attack, but what I really wasn't prepared for was my shield being cut through so easily.

I closed my eyes as I was blasted to the back of the cave. I heard Kagome scream beside me and could only hope that she wasn't injured too badly. I knew I would be fine but the sharp pain in my head prevented me from recovering as fast as I usually would have.

My name was being called from the distance. I lay still, my head thrown back on a rock as I tried to open my eyes. I held my breath to keep from inhaling the smoke and debris from the broken stones all around me. I groaned as I felt my body being pulled up off the ground. I finally opened my eyes and Sakura was fanning smoke from my face.

"Are you okay?"

I placed a hand to my head with a frown. "I'll be fine. Where's Kagome?" I rushed my question, frantically looking around for her. Koga was lying her down in front of Kilala's large body as I ran over to her. "Kagome, are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

She shook her head. She was beginning to turn weak but the priestess powers she possessed kept her going strong. "Don't worry, I'll be alright."

"This will be over in a minute, Kagome. You just take it easy." Koga kissed her forehead and looked at Kagura with death in his eyes.

I felt bad. Kagome was hurt because of me. I felt like I could have done more to keep her safe.

"Ayame, don't sweat it. I just need to rest for a second."

She must have easily ready the look on my face and smiled her school-girl smile.

Finally being able to agree, I nodded and went back out to help everyone else.

"You're definitely going to pay for that, Kagura." I promised her. I snatched a few inches off of the bottom of my kimono so I could move around more easily. Now is the time I wish I was still in my present day clothes because I could seriously kick some ass in my jeans. I wasn't expecting to go through all of this mess so a kimono seemed okay for the day. Boy was I way off. It didn't matter, though. I was still doing some major damage.

"Hm. Before you go through on your word…" Kagura put her arms down by her side and quickly shut her fan.

"Uh, what's happening?" Shippo squealed, jumping onto Miroku's shoulder in fear.

All of the dead soldiers Kagura was controlling started to foam at the mouth and they simultaneously fell to the ground. It was evident that she didn't need them anymore but I knew she wasn't dumb enough to try and fight every one of us in a sig-against-one battle, excluding Kagome, Shippo and Kilala.

"There's one more message from Naraku that I need to deliver."

"And what might that be?" Inuyasha asked, staying prepared.

Kagura waved her closed fan slowly over the wet ground in front of her. Two figures arose covered in dirt from head to toe.

"They are not under my control so I have no responsibility of their actions. But you should be very familiar with them." Kagura took a step back with her voice sounding a bit uninterested in the message, but her eyes telling another story, anticipating what was about to happen.

The dirt fell clean from the two figures floating in front of us and I heard Sakura catch her breath. I stood, frozen in place with my black eyes growing wide. It was as if time stood still as the two undead demons looked at my sister and I with no emotion written on their faces whatsoever. This was the first time I never knew what to do during a fight. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. My heart was pounding so rapidly I thought it would jump out of my chest. This had to be a dream.

After 11 long years, I was standing face-to-face with my parents.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

_Sakura_

How dare he? How dare Naraku taunt Ayame and I with our parents' corpse? I'm not even sure if those were their real bodies because once Kaede took us from our castle the night we were attacked, we never went back to see what remained of it. We were too afraid. Afraid of what we would find. Afraid that we would see our parents lying out in the open courtyard with their blood tainting our protected grounds. Afraid of reliving the nightmare Naraku knew would haunt us for the rest of our lives.

Standing here staring back at these possible puppets of my mother and father made me realize that avoiding to go back to our castle meant that our parents never got a proper burial. Unless we had any surviving family that did the honor of taking care of that task. But, Ayame and I are their only children. It's our responsibility to see to it that it's done. Now that we're older and have had plenty of time to cope with the situation, there's no need for excuses. If these weren't their real bodies standing before us, we would go back home and bury them properly.

"Who are they?"

My ear fanned backwards, following Shippo's voice as he whispered, questioning the figures in front of us.

"Shinobu and Akira Tsuyotomi." Koga was stunned.

"That bastard!" Inuyasha was very displeased at Koga's information. "Does he really expect them to fight their own parents?"

"Parents?!" Shippo, Sango and Miroku all dropped their jaws.

Kagura gave no response and instead stood statue in her place. She was simply waiting to see what Naraku would command his new puppets to do.

"Screw this!" Inuyasha charged at them to attack. I wanted to stop him but I couldn't find my words. My stomach turned in knots the closer he got to them, ready to use his Tetsusaiga.

"Inuyasha!" Ayame screamed, making him stop dead in his tracks and look at her. He closed three fourth of distance between them and I prayed they didn't find him too close to where they wanted to attack him.

Ayame lowered her shoulders and her voice. "Don't." She spoke with sadness and pain and I noticed her eyes glistening. She was about to cry.

I usually would comfort her when she cried about our parents but not this time. She had to toughen up and consider the situation at hand. Naraku was trying to get under our skin. Even thought it was damn near impossible to show that he didn't, we still had to be strong. On the outside, that's what I was going to do. I had to be strong for Ayame. I was crumbling all the way down on the inside, but I tried my best to hold back all of my tears.

Inuyasha stood his ground, angry that Naraku was doing this to us. The urge to help was strong in his eyes and attitude.

"This is our battle." Ayame's voice was now down to a whisper. She squeezed her hands into fists and I could see her shoulders shutter. She held her breath for three seconds in order to keep from crying. I hated to see her this way.

Inuyasha looked at the both of us with sorrow-filled eyes and sheathed his Tetsusaiga and stood off to the side, anger quickly taking over his features again.

When he was out of the way, my parents ran full speed at Ayame and I. We braced ourselves and when my father punched into both my hands and my mother into Ayame's, the four of us sunk into the ground, causing an energy wave, blowing the dead limp soldiers about 50 feet back and our friends only half the distance of that.

When we were little, my father used to train and spar with us all the time. He'd train defense and let Ayame and I attack him offense since we were just learning to fight and develop some of our powers. This time it was the other way around. Ayame and I were only using defense while my parents used offence.

They were throwing everything they had at us and attacking us from every which way. They were almost too fast to keep up with and I was reluctant to pick up my speed for fear of hitting them with a counter attack. I didn't want to hit them at all. The most I would do is push them back to give us space so I could catch my breath.

One second I was defending myself from my father, the next it would be my mother. He came at me with his brute strength and large hands while my mother used her quick feline reflexes and fist-sized energy blasts. My father always fought with intent to kill as fast as he could. My mother was the exact opposite. She preferred to kill her enemies slow and torturous while her speed confused you into thinking otherwise.

Every time she attacked us, she left small painful cuts on our bodies from her claws. She sliced through my shirt and at the skin of my legs leaving slits everywhere that hardly bled. Her nails piercing my skin stung so badly. I caught her hand once as she tried running past me and threw her in the opposite direction she came from, only to be thrown backwards with Ayame crashing into me by my father's heavy punch.

Naraku got every detail of their fighting techniques correct down to a tee. The more I thought about him being behind all this the more I wanted to fight back. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I groaned as Ayame pulled herself up off of me. Everything seemed to stop as we both caught our breath.

"Sakura, what are we gonna do?" Despite defending herself as much as she had been doing and enduring the same pain that I was, Ayame's voice was still as sad as it sounded before the fight even started. I looked her over and she appeared just as bad as I was. Her kimono had been burned away in some places due to our mother's small Ki blasts. There were cuts and bruises all over her arms and legs and her long hair had fallen out from its ponytail.

"I don't…I don't know." I didn't want to fight them anymore, but I wasn't going to let Naraku have my own dead parents kill me off if he wasn't going to do it himself. "Defending ourselves isn't going to get us anywhere. We'll be fighting forever." My voice shook.

"Dammit."

"Something the matter, children?"

I looked from the ground up to my parents. Their voices were exactly the same as I last remembered them to be. This was crazy. Naraku had really pulled a number on us.

"Are you ready to die today?" They spoke in unison again.

My eyes narrowed at them. This was it. I had had enough. "Ayame…" I balled my hands up into fists. I felt Ayame's eyes on me, waiting to hear what I was about to say next. "Fight."

"Remember, girls: we love you."

I ran towards them with every intention to kill- my father's real spirit filling my emotions. Suddenly, my _okurimono_ marking pulsed and I felt a sense of strength awaken within me. Electricity surrounded my right fist as I produced ki and struck my father. At least the puppet that appeared to be him. I followed up by jumping into the air and coming down on him with my fist again, sinking him into the ground, creating a large crater.

"Whoa! Did you guys see that?" Shippo screamed.

Part of me felt terrified of what I just did, only because I was older now and this was no training session. I was trying to kill- or at least immobilize these puppets. Having such hateful thoughts dealing with them because of Naraku didn't feel right to me. It bothered me in ways I didn't think were possible. But I had to do something. I had to be strong. And this was me displaying my strength.

I looked to my right and leapt out of the way before my mother pounded into me just as I did her mate. I saw Ayame chasing after her but my father jumped into the air and tackled her to the ground.

"Ayame!" I tried to fly around my mother to get to her but my mother was too fast, engaging us both in combat with one another.

I saw Ayame struggling with our father all of a sudden. He held her off of the ground by her shoulders and smiled evilly at her. Her kicks to the stomach now had no type of effect on him. The next thing I know, her face turned ghost white as she looked into his dead eyes. I've never seen her look so horrified in my life and that scared me.

My father head-butted her, causing her to lose consciousness and then forcefully threw her past Kagura and into the forest behind her.

"No!" I attempted to get away from my mother once again and the closest I got to Ayame was only being able to land on the ground, not closing any space between us before vines wrapped around my ankles and pulling my legs together. I was about to burn them off but more shot from the ground and wrapped around my wrists and arms, continuing all the way up to my neck, tightening around it.

I gasped for air, watching my mother land in front of me and quickly jump back out of the way. When she was gone from my line of vision, my father was running towards me. I wasn't escaping his blow. The vines were holding me too tight. There was nothing I could do but prepare for what was coming for me.

When my father's fist came in contact with my stomach, all of the wind was knocked out of my body. As if that wasn't bad enough, I felt a piercing pain through the same spot that he punched.

"Sakura!" Inuyasha screamed.

My breath came out in silent gasps and the taste of blood filled my mouth. My father's face showed satisfaction as he pulled his hand out of my stomach. It had transformed into a sword. I recognized this technique of shape-shifting from Naraku. He turned the sword back into his hand and it was covered in my blood up to his elbow.

He took a few steps towards me and pulled my chin upwards with his blood-stained arm. My mother joined him, glancing over her shoulder into the forest where Ayame's unconscious body lay.

"You are weak." He spoke to me. There was no emotion in his voice, yet the smirk on his face didn't go away. "You were no match for us and so you are no match for Naraku."

I felt a tear slide down my right cheek. I was cracking. A movement behind them caught my eye. Kagura was leaving.

"Don't cry, dear." My mother said. "It was nice to see you and your sister again."

"Until next time." They both said at once.

"Get away from her!" Inuyasha was closing in on us, wielding his Tetsusaiga.

I opened my mouth to try and speak but clamped my teeth shut, hurting from the pain my body suffered from. The fighting had taken a toll on me and left me completely exhausted. Blood seeped from the corners of my mouth and my vision was cloudy. I wanted to say something, anything…but I honestly didn't know what it would be.

Forceful wind from the Tetsusaiga flew past me. My parents disappeared into thin air before Inuyasha's attack could even hit them. My body felt like it was floating and the last thing I was aware of was Inuyasha's warm hands reaching out for me as darkness consumed my vision.

**Sorry so short! I may update later, or maybe tomorrow...or some time next week lol but on MONDAY I will definitely be posting a crossover story that I've been working on and I REALLY hope you all like it!...maybe I should reveal the shows, huh? Weeeellllll...ok, ok. It's a KenInuTen crossover :) SO anyways, please R&R! I really want to know what you guys think of this story :( lol farewell for now!**


	13. Chapter 13

**TADA! Ok, so I chose to just go ahead and post another chapter today out of the goodness of my heart haha Don't forget: I'll be posting a KenInuTen story on monday! (Kenshin, Inuyasha and Tenchi for the newbies who still haven't figured it out yet lol) I myself think it's pretty interesting and there will be humor, romance and action of course! Be on the lookout for Tamashi No Gemu! :D (NO AFFILIATION WITH HUNGER GAMES OR THAT CONCEPT T_T. Just want to makd that clear because of the title so people won't be expecting something else...but you should still read it :) anyways, onward with this new chapter! R&R PLEASE!**

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

_Kagura_

Naraku was always sending others to do his dirty work. Unfortunately, since I was practically the strongest one of his army that was cast off from his own body, I was always sent to run his errands, more or less. I was cursed with the ability to control the wind but I myself wasn't "free". I wanted nothing more than to be separated from him and not have to answer to him. But I was bound. He held my heart in his hands. If I ever deceived him, he would end me. Even if he felt he had no more need for me to be in this world any longer, he could get rid of me. I hated this life, but I loved to live it.

Summoning all of those dead soldiers to go after Inuyasha and his clan for the jewel shards was a fail from the beginning. I knew the power my Dance of the Dead technique held was powerful, but I was smart enough to know that no puppets were a match for the group. I didn't care to fight them or even be involved in their problems. Knowing that Naraku was always watching, the least I could do was put on a show, which was my only reason for using Dance of Blades on the youngest Tsuyotomi sister. That was enough for me. I stayed afterwards out of curiosity.

I didn't think it was a good idea to recreate Shinobu and Akira. That was low, even for Naraku. But he claimed to know what he was doing when he laid the plan out to me, telling me what my specific tasks were. I actually felt bad for the sisters, but there was nothing I could do to help them.

I was glad he decided to stop them when the sisters were terribly hurt. He was playing with them. He wanted to make them think they would die by their supposed parents' hands. He was sick. One thing I was curious of most was what Shinobu's eyes showed the youngest sister before he head-butted her unconscious and threw her into the woods behind me. Whatever it was, she grew terrified to the point where she couldn't even fight anymore.

I returned to Naraku's castle empty-handed of jewel shards. I was slow to walk through the place to look for him, not in a rush to face him. I passed by a few rooms and Kanna, another piece of Naraku, stood in the doorway of one of them, holding her mirror in her hands.

"What is the matter, Kanna?"

She stood silent and tilted her mirror up towards my face. I looked into it to see Inuyasha's group approaching a village in search of help. They all looked worn out. Inuyasha carried the oldest sister in his arms with her blood all over his front side, a scowl on his face. Then, the image disappeared.

"I sensed you were worried about the well-being of the group." She said softly.

"Hm." I turned my face away from her towards the floor, preparing to walk away. "Thank you."

I slowly walked up to Naraku's room door and it slid open by itself. I took two steps forwards and the door closed behind me.

"Worried about them, are we?" Naraku hid in the shadows in a corner of the room. Because I was part of him, he knew everything I felt, knew everything I was thinking and saw what I saw when he had puppets around. It was nearly impossible to escape him. I was not my own person. I belonged to him.

I couldn't bring myself to answer him. I just looked to my left out of the window at the sun beginning to set, turning the sky mixtures of orange, pink and purple.

"You did a good job today." He spoke again.

"Huh?" I turned back towards him.

"Your holding back made me realize that I need you. If you had fought like I told you to, the sisters would have surely killed you if Inuyasha hadn't."

I was offended. "Inuyasha couldn't ever come close." I spat. I couldn't believe he was even doubting me. Then my mind wandered to the first thing he said. He needed me?

"Your dead soldiers did put up quite a fight. It's disappointing that they were unable to retrieve the shards, though. I guess I will have to take care of that myself. On the other hand, Shinobu and Akira didn't fail me. They put up an interesting fight, don't you agree?"

"Interesting enough." I looked back out of the window. "But…don't you think that was a little overboard?" I dared to ask him. I wanted to know what he was honestly thinking. He may have been borrowing a demon's body and using his collected jewel shards to his desire, but his heart still held the human feelings of Onigumo. Before he was the half demon Naraku, he was a full human man. And sometimes his actions proved it by sparring my life on more than one occasion. I remembered him saying that even as a human he was hateful and deceitful of others, but it was hard to tell since he kept me around all this time. If that wasn't the case, he would have killed me off a long time ago.

"Not at all, Kagura."

"May I ask why?" I chanced once again.

"Recreating Shinobu and Akira proved to me that their daughters were still hurt by their deaths. They are weak against them."

"But, they fought back in the end."

"Perhaps so, but they weren't fighting at their full potential. They wouldn't dare want to hurt their precious parents. They did exactly what I wanted them to do."

"You put them up against their weakness just to see what all they could do?"

"Exactly. They didn't use every aspect of their powers, but I saw enough." He chuckled.

I turned to leave but he stopped me. I looked over my shoulder to see him coming out of the shadows, holding something in his right hand. I gasped and put a hand to the spot where my heart should have been and watched as he teased it with a small squeeze.

"Disobeying me this time saved your life and worked to my benefit. But let it happen again and I will end you."

He opened his hand all the way and my heart disappeared and I took several deep breaths, sweating profusely. I quickly exited his room, closing the door behind me and leaving his castle all together.

_Inuyasha_

Sakura and Ayame were so worn out fighting against their puppet parents. Honestly, I think I would be too. All four of them moved faster than my eyes could keep up with and they were exchanging blows that sent out heavy impacts through the air and on the ground. I wanted so badly to help them in some type of way, but I respected Ayame's wishes and backed off.

That bastard Naraku was trying so hard to overcome his human heart, he was pulling all sorts of tricks from thin air that seemed to get more evil when he decided to attack without being around. I couldn't wait to get my hands on him and kill him once and for all.

The ground shook slightly as Shinobu jumped into the air and tackled Ayame down into the crater Sakura created when she punched him from the air.

"Ayame!" Sakura screamed, trying to reach her sister. Akira had her tied up, going full force at her so she couldn't help her sister.

When I looked back at Ayame and Shinobu from Sakura and Akira, Ayame was being thrown into the woods. Sakura tried to get to her again but as soon as her feet touched the ground, vines shot up from the soil and wrapped her legs together. She struggled and closed one eye as the vines coiled up her arms and to her neck. Akira leapt down in front of her and jumped back into the air as Shinobu surprised her and rammed his fist into her stomach. She couldn't even scream; the wind was knocked out of her.

I gripped Tetsusaiga and growled. I couldn't watch this anymore. I blinked once and I saw a sword go through her stomach and come out through her back. I gasped and my eyes grew wide at the sight. Shinobu's hand transformed just as Naraku could do.

"Sakura!" I took one step, then two, then broke out into a full sprint to reach her. Time seemed to slow down and I felt like it was taking too long for me to get to her. When I finally did, I unsheathed Tetsusaiga and unleased the Wind Scar at the puppets in front of her, but to no avail. As soon as I swung it, they disappeared into thin air.

I quickly put Tetsusaiga back in its sheath and caught Sakura as the vines holding her up gave way.

"Inuyasha!" Shippo cried, running towards Sakura and I with everyone behind him. "Is she going to be okay?"

I ripped the vines from Sakura's body and was careful when I cut them from around her neck with my claws. I heard her slow heartbeat and weak breathing. I'm not sure why I thought she was going to die. I guess I was just scared at the moment and because her wounds looked so severe. People talked about her and Ayame being the strongest demon's alive so this had to be nothing to her.

"We need to tend to her wounds. We have to find a village." I said, trying to stay calm on the outside.

"I've got Ayame." Sango said, sitting on a big Kilala's back in her demon slayer outfit. Miroku climbed on behind her. "We'll fly ahead and see if there's a village nearby."

I nodded to her and watched them fly north, not back-tracking away from the direction we were searching for Naraku in.

"Kagome, are you okay to ride on your bike?" Koga asked, helping her on.

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, I can manage for a while."

"Alright, I'll go ahead as well and let you guys know if I find anything."

"Okay,"

"I hope you can keep up 'cause I'm not walkin'." I said to Kagome as I took off. I didn't want to waste any time in getting Sakura some help.

"I'll be okay! You ready, Shippo?"

"Ready."

"Hold on tight!" I heard from behind me. I glanced back and Kagome paddled on her bike as fast as she could manage.

"Inuyasha, up ahead!" Miroku called down to me from the sky.

There was a village closer than I thought. I was thankful for the smell of human as we got closer to it. I heard the faint sound of Kagome's bike chains spinning and knew she wasn't that far behind.

When we entered the village we attracted all kinds of stares from people. We were all kind of beat up and splattered with mud so I didn't really care about the whispers. Of course they were going to whisper at the sight.

"Where is the village doctor?" I demanded in a loud voice, looking around at all of the people. Miroku and Sango hopped off of Kilala and Miroku took Ayame into his arms.

"Please, we are in need of immediate assistance." He said.

"And just why should we help you demons?" A bitter old woman questioned us, stepping from behind some villagers.

"Because we're askin' for it and if you dare refuse, I'll personally rip your heart out!" I snapped. I heard gasps and showed my fangs off to the old woman in hopes to scare her. It worked.

"This way," She turned around and motioned us to follow her.

She took us to a large hut and told Miroku and I where to lay Sakura and Ayame.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Gensu." A man who looked to be in his 50's walked inside of the hut and looked us all over. "Will you all be needing assistance this evening?"

"No, kind sir, just these three women." Miroku gestured to Sakura, Ayame and Kagome. "My name is Miroku and on behalf of all of my friends, I am in your gratitude." He shared a bow with the man.

"Oh my, we must get started immediately." He said with worried eyes, looking at Sakura's bloody stomach.

"Please, get out." The woman shoved Miroku, Koga and I out of the hut.

I stood my ground. "What do you think you're doing? I'm not going anywhere!" I protested.

"You must leave the doctor to his work!"

"No way! I wanna stay and watch over them!"

"They have to be undressed! Now go and we'll come for you when we're through!"

I blushed a beat red and still hesitated.

"It's okay, Inuyasha." Kagome said. "I'll be looking after them for you."

I groaned low and nodded, storming out of the hut. I trusted Kagome and so her reassurance eased me just a little.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

_Inuyasha_

Two hours had gone by and I was beyond impatient. Kagome was treated first, having the least amount of injuries. She came outside every once in a while to give us updates on Sakura and Ayame. Since they were demons their bodies would heal mostly on their own. The sword gash in Sakura's stomach would take a little longer.

"Ayame is going to be alright. The doctor is going to give Sakura stitches."

"Stitches? What are those?" I asked.

"It's when you get your skin sewn back together. When the slit in your skin heals, the thread will fall off." Kagome explained.

"Do they practice that in your time?" Sango asked, still dressed in her slayer outfit.

"Yeah, among many other things. I'm surprised that Dr. Gensu and his assistant are even skilled in it."

I crossed my arms. "Whatever it does, it better help Sakura get better faster."

"Inuyasha, don't be so tense." Kagome said. "I heard that there's a hot spring not too far from here. Why don't you guys go check it out and I'll prepare some ramen for when you return? Maybe then Dr. Gensu will be finished."

I wanted to stay but the look in her eyes said that I didn't have a choice. I didn't want to relax until I saw with my own eyes that Sakura was really okay.

Soaking in the hot spring Kagome heard about did do me some justice. It relaxed my muscles and gave me new-found strength. When Miroku and Koga returned to the village, I took that time alone to wash the mud and blood out of my clothes in a river nearby. I walked back to the village wearing only the towel Kagome provided me with. I asked someone to dry my clothes and told them I would send for them soon.

"Oh, Inuyasha, you're back." Kagome looked at me then blushed, turning her face away.

"Uh, where are your clothes?" Miroku questioned.

"I washed the blood and stuff out of them and someone's hanging them to dry for me." I explained, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Inuyasha?" Ayame waked out of the doctors hut wearing her present day clothes and a black thing Kagome once told me was a jacket. She opened her mouth to speak but decided against it, shaking her head.

"How do you feel?" I asked, concerned about her.

"Besides this aching headache, my scars have already healed, so I'm okay." She gave a weak smile. "I could go for a soak to relax my muscles, though." She stretched her neck from left to right.

"Same here," Sango spoke up.

"Here, Inuyasha. Your ramen," Kagome held out the ninja food to me.

I shook my head and tried to peek inside of the doctor's hut. Ayame jumped back in front of me. "Wait! She might not be dressed yet. Let me go check." She went inside and I heard her and the old woman's muffled voices. Three more minutes and Ayame came back outside. "She's all yours."

I rushed inside and stopped as the old woman stood with her arms crossed, blocking my way to Sakura. "You got something to say to me, you old bat?"

She looked offended. "No funny business!" She looked me up and down and jumped up to flick my nose. I growled loudly at her back as she exited the hut.

"I managed to close her wound from both sides. It's up to her demon body to heal the rest of the way." Dr. Genu said while wiping his bloody hands on a wet cloth.

I nodded absently and sat cross-legged on the floor beside the futon Sakura was on, folding my towel down the middle. She was all bandaged up at her torso, breasts and her hands. A blanket lay over her lower half but still showed a lot of her legs. This time, looking at her body didn't make my body temperature hot like it did when I was alone in the forest with her. I was actually enraged looking at the state she was in. Naraku had done this to her. He had caused her all of this trouble and pain.

I slowly reached up to touch her bandaged right hand and immediately felt heat rise from them. I wrapped my fingers up under her palm and grazed my thumb against her bare skin. I felt this crazy attraction to her already. It hasn't been long but I really liked her. She was interesting, she was strong and she was sweet at heart. She was definitely different. Way different than what I was used to. But I didn't mind. I really enjoyed her company.

I can't say how long I had been sitting beside her, holding her hand. Kagome came inside twice telling me that I needed to eat but I refused each time. I was glad when I sensed no one outside of the hut. I knew it was getting late so they all probably went to bed. Except for Ayame. I knew she was around here somewhere waiting for the moment her sister opened her eyes, just as I was.

My ears perked up as insane heat started to come from Sakura's hand, but I still held on, watching to see what was happening. Her hands gave off a faint golden glow and all of the scratches Akira inflicted on her started to disappear. When they were all gone, the glow from her hands faded and her fingers slowly wrapped around mine. She was waking up.

"Sakura?"

Her ears turned outward, the right one facing me as it processed my voice. Her eyes opened and she turned her head to face me. "Inuyasha," She smiled.

I smiled too, glad that she was finally awake. I looked into her big red eyes. They were beautiful and sad. I couldn't even imagine how she felt after today's battle and I didn't dare ask…at least not right now.

"Inuyasha…" her pouty lips stared at me.

"Yeah?"

"Why…why are you naked?" She pulled her brows together and tried to hold in a laugh.

My face turned fire red. I forgot I was sitting there in only a towel. "Uh, w-well, I could ask you the same thing." I said back, releasing her hand, thinking of something to save me from embarrassment.

"I was sleeping, I wouldn't know for sure. But you have no excuses." She shot back at me with her eyes now narrowed.

Just then, the flap to the hut opened and Ayame walked in with my clothes and some ninja food. "I believe these belong to you."

I took my clothes from her and went outside to change in the nearest tree and headed right back in the hut. Ayame had just helped Sakura put on a peach shirt which was a short dress on her and tied a black obi carefully around her waist. Sakura sighed from relief and leaned back against the nearest wall.

"Does it hurt?" I asked her, still standing.

"Yeah, a little. But it's just a scratch." She said with a soft voice, waving it off.

I chuckled and sat beside Tetsusaiga on the wall adjacent to the sisters. She sounded like me. "You don't think you would need to go to the present for treatment, would you?"

Sakura shook her head. "And have to explain why there's a sword gash going through my stomach? No, thanks. I'll heal completely in a couple days."

"So, I guess you wanna eat now." Ayame passed some ninja food to me and Sakura.

"Yeah! I'm starving." I didn't hesitate to start digging in.

"I bet." She turned to Sakura who was also eating like she hadn't had anything in ages. "He didn't eat the whole time you were sleeping."

"At all?

"Nope. He refused Kagome's offer about three times."

I groaned. "Do you have to tell her all of that?"

Ayame laughed. "Yes, I do. It's my job."

"Get a new job!"

"I feel so special, Inuyasha." Sakura's voice was starting to sound as vibrant as usual.

"Yeah, well, enough with the mushy stuff. You're alright now and that's all that matters. Everyone is okay." I finished up my food and waited for Sakura so I could take her empty cup. "Get some rest, both of you." I instructed, getting ready to leave them alone for the night.

"Yes, Master Inuyasha." They both cooed, snickering afterwards. I sweat-dropped but didn't turn to look back at them.

_Ayame_

Neither I nor Sakura could sleep that night. It wasn't coming to us so easily so I decided to accompany her to the hot springs so she could bathe.

"You just got stitched up. Are you sure you wanna do that?" I was skeptical of her soaking after the doctor had just patched her up. Her wound was still pretty fresh if you ask me. "And your bandages…"

"Stop worrying so much, sis. I'll be okay as soon as I'm relaxing in the water."

When we reached the springs, Sakura undressed and unwrapped all of her bandages and slowly dipped herself into the water. I had my back turned but heard her hiss and I figured that was when the water touched where her stitches were.

"Damn. I didn't expect it to feel like this."

"Is it safe for me to face you now?"

"Yeah."

I turned to look at her with dark green eyes and sat on a rock, rolling my jeans up and dipping my feet into the water. "You okay?"

Sakura nodded with her eyes closed and her hair tied up, sinking lower into the water and blowing bubbles.

"How did you feel about what happened earlier?" I finally asked, playing with my fingers and slowly kicking my feet in the water. Now was the perfect time to talk about the fight we had.

Sakura's big red eyes opened and looked to the moon. She pushed up some to where the water was just above her collar bone and leaned back on a rock behind her, getting comfortable.

"I don't know, really. It was…crazy."

"Yeah…" I tapped my fingers on my legs and watched as I made small waves appear in the water. "I can't help but think about why Naraku would do something as low as put us up against our own parents."

"Me either…But, it won't matter in the end anyway because we will destroy him and avenge their deaths."

"That's another thing- do you think those were their real bodies?" I continued to make waves in the water.

Sakura sighed. "I'm not sure. I pray that they weren't, but you know never to put anything past him."

We were silent for a moment and I stopped making waves when the cuff of my jeans started to get a little wet.

"I was thinking, though," Sakura started. I looked in her direction and she was still staring up at the moon. "We should go home and see what it looks like. It's been years.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Are you even up for that?" The real question was, was _I_ up for it? I knew Sakura would never suggest doing something if she wasn't going to go through with it herself.

"Yeah, I mean, why not? We might find some of our family. And…if mom and dad's bodies are still there by some miracle, we could bury them properly so they can finally be at peace."

She did have a point. Since that night Naraku attacked our castle and we left, the thought of going back hadn't even crossed my mind. Until just then, I'm not even sure why it didn't. I hoped that there were survivors in our family and they buried my parents. If not, Sakura and I would put their remains to rest.

"Hey, Ayame…" Sakura's curious voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"Hm?"

She looked away from the sky then down to the small ripples of the water created by my foot movement.

"I was trying to reach you when I was fighting mom's puppet towards the end, but she had me so tied up."

"It's okay, I get it. I knew she was a handful. Puppet Shinobu was too." I laughed a little along with her because of the name I gave our not-dad.

"Well, I want you to know that I was watching you. At one point, you looked so petrified when you looked at him. It scared me. What did you see?"

I stopped moving my feet and looked at her for a brief moment. She looked so worried. "It was Naraku…He showed me something through that puppet's eyes."

"What was it?"

"He…He showed me that night. He showed me how it ended. How he killed mom and dad." My voice cracked and I wrapped my arms around my waist to seek comfort since Sakura wasn't in a position to hug me.

"What?" She asked, her voice soft and full of disbelief.

"It was terrible." I cried. "He had- he,"

"No." I looked at my sister who was now crying too, shaking her head. "You don't have to explain." She turned her back on me and stood, the water coming to her lower back. Her skin was slowly starting to heal itself of the remaining bruises she had left. Her stitches ran up the middle of her back and it made my skin crawl. Looking at her wound made me grab at my stomach, somehow feeling the amount of pain she probably felt when the transformed fist shot through her, turning into a sword.

I looked away as she stepped out of the water to dry off and get dressed. She came around to the side of the spring where I was and hugged me like there was no tomorrow. I swung my feet around so I would be facing her and hugged her back just as tight as she sobbed into my jacket. I welcomed her salt water tears with some of my own and held onto my sister for as long as she wanted me to.

We slid down to sit in the grass and didn't let go of each other.

"Dad's spirit was with me when I decided that we should fight back." She choked out.

"What do you mean?"

"My _okurimono_ pulsed right before I punched puppet Shinobu."

I sighed, not really knowing what to say but silently thanked my father for still watching over us and giving us strength when we needed it.

When I stopped crying I waited a while before deciding we should head back to the village. Sakura had been pretty quiet and I noticed her uneven breathing. She was starting to fall asleep.

"Sis, let's go back so we can get some rest." I woke her up and stood to slip my sandals on. She did the same and grabbed her bag and we both headed back to the village.

"Let's go home tomorrow?" Sakura leaned into me while she walked.

I threw an arm around her shoulder and rested my head on hers. There was no need to put off the task any longer, so I agreed. "Sure thing."


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

_Sakura_

"Do you really think it's a good idea to be traveling today?" Kagome questioned. She, Ayame and Sango sat with me in the hut provided by Dr. Gensu as I reapplied bandages to my torso and hands. Kagome helped secure the wrap around my body and I bandaged up my bruised hands.

Ayame and I insisted that only she and I take a small detour so we could take care of business back home at our castle. I was nervous about what we'd find but that wouldn't stop me from going.

"I'm fine, Kagome. This is just something we have to do."

"I understand." Sango said from behind me. "After we defeat Naraku I vowed to return to my village and bury all of the demon slayers that remained left and fix the place up."

"All?" Ayame asked. "What happened to them?"

"Naraku slaughtered them and tricked me into thinking Inuyasha did it. Tha is part of why I detest him."

I saw the pain in her eyes and found it all too familiar. "I'm sorry about that."

Sango nodded and pat Kilala on her head as she jumped onto her lap from Ayame's.

"Well, would you like for us to go with you?" Kagome offered.

"Go with them where?" Inuyasha walked into the hut with Miroku trailing behind.

My eyes grew wide and I quickly close the opening to my shirt without fixing it the way I wanted like I was trying to do before they walked in. Kagome jumped in front of me in an attempt to cover my body.

"Sit boy!" We both yelled at him. "Don't you two knock?" We shared the same expression again as Inuyasha groaned from the floor.

"You wouldn't need any help with that, would you, Sakura?" The monk asked.

"She's got it, Miroku!" Sango said, slapping him.

"You guys, get out!" Ayame did us all a favor and threw both of them out of the hut.

I hurried and fixed my peach shirt and layered it with my red kimono then tied up my sandals as I listened to Koga and Shippo laugh hysterically at what just happened. Thank God I had on my sports bra because my boobs would have been exposed for Inuyasha and Miroku to see. I blushed from the thought of sheer embarrassment.

"Geez, warn us next time you decide to enter a hut full of women!" Kagome yelled, exiting the hut with Ayame, Sango and I following behind.

Inuyasha huffed and brushed himself off. "Whatever, Kagome! I've got a bone to pick with you anyway!"

"About what?"

"First, you almost kill me with one of your arrows and then you 'sit' me in the middle of the battle!" He got in her face.

"I already apologized! It was an accident!" She got in his face, not backing down. They were definitely attracting a crowd.

"You apologized about the arrow, not the 'sit' part!"

"That's because you were being a jerk!"

"Are they seriously doing this?" Ayame asked, a little embarrassed about the attention they were drawing.

Sango sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Stop talking to my Kagome like that!" Koga jumped in between them.

"You don't have anything to do with this!" Inuyasha yelled at him.

"Uh, guys..." Miroku motioned around them and the arguing stopped. Kagone, Koga and Inuyasha huffed, turning away from each other.

"Anyways, where are you two going?" Inuyasha turned towards me.

"To visit our home to see what it looks like...and to see if our parents have been buried or not."

"Well, we're coming with you."

I jerked my neck back. "Uhm..."

"Don't protest! You haven't even finished healing. If something happens no one will be there to protect you, so we're going." He finished, crossing his arms.

I blinked wide at him not even able to argue back. This was a personal matter for Ayame and I to handle alone. Though, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a larger support system there and more help if the place had been a complete wreck.

My ears flattened against my head and I felt myself shrink under his golden gaze, his posture strong and tall.

"Well then..." Ayame broke the silence. She nudged me and leaned in close, turning away from Inuyasha and touching her right shoulder with my left. "That's your man." She mumbled with an evil smile.

"What?!" I blushed hard, shocked at her comment. She laughed and walked away from me. Sure, I liked Inuyasha but I was still getting to know him for the most part. I must say though, him expressing his dominance to me this way was pretty sexy. I liked someone who knew how to put their foot down. Wait...what the hell am I saying? I need to stay focused! I wasn't going to let Inuyasha distract me or let Ayame get away with her comment. This was the start if her beginning to try and play match maker and I wasn't falling for it.

"Hey!" I looked down and a short old woman stood in front of Dr. Gensu's hut with her arms crossed. "It seems you have healed quite well over night. You'll be leaving now, I suppose?"

I balled my fists up. "What's your problem, old bat?" I heard Inuyasha chuckle but I ignored it, annoyed at the grumpy old lady.

"I want all of you demons out of my village! You've received your help, now go!"

Dr. Gensu appeared beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please, forgive her. She is just upset over the mysterious demons that have been haunting the village." He apologized on her behalf.

"Haunting?" Miroku took a step towards him.

"Yes. It's been going on for quite some time now. To be honest, we were quite nervous to ask for your help. We thought it would be too much trouble." He slightly bowed to us.

"Why, it's no trouble at all. I shall do a quick exorcism and we'll be on our way."

I excused myself from the group and jumped into a tree away from where Miroku was placing sutras on a few huts. I dug into my bag, pulling out my art notebook and a marker.

"Hey, what ya got there?" Inuyasha's voice asked from above me. I hadn't even noticed he was there, or followed me for that matter.

"I'm writing someone a letter." Toka had been on my mind ever since I woke up last night and I wanted to see how he and the villagers were holding up.

"Oh," he hummed, seeming interested. "Who is it?" He was now in front of me, sitting like a puppy, flicking his ears.

"Someone I helped before I went to visit Kaede the day I met you guys." I smirked, continuing to write.

"Is it the same person you went to see when we left yesterday?"

"It is...why all the questions?" If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was hinting at me writing a love letter or something.

"Just wondering."

"You sure it isn't anything else?"

He sat on his butt and crossed his legs and arms. The branch wiggled a little under both of our weight and I floated just a couple of centimeters into the air to take my pressure off.

"No!" He said loudly which caused me to giggle. "What's so funny?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, Inuyasha." He was always getting mad at something. "His name is Toka." I said after a few minutes of silence.

"What are you telling me for? Not like I care." He wasn't agressive when he replied. He all of a sudden seemed sort of distant. He pulled his legs out of the pretzel they were in and prepared to hop out of the tree. I heard a slight crack underneath me but thought nothing of it.

"He's a sweet kid." I said, freezing Inuyasha in place. He slowly went back to his previous position. "He almost reminds me of myself when I was little."

"How so?"

I signed my name on the letter and folded it up, resting it on top of the small notebook I ripped it out of and put it in my lap. " I transferred some of my nature powers to him so he could water their crops instead of going to fetch water for the task. He was so excited. When he hugged me, he said he was special like Ayame and I. I used to think I was special like my parents had always told me and that I belonged until I was old enough to realize other people didn't think so. Toka was the first person to call us special after our parents. It made me think that maybe he doesn't accepted by the other kids in the village or something."

Inuyasha shifted his weight in an attempt to get more comfortable. "Hm... He must be a pretty special kid if you're thinking about him enough to write."

I nodded and looked to the sky, smiling at an image of Toka in my head. "He really is."

"And...if it means anything, so far, I think you're pretty special!"

The branch under us gave way and Inuyasha went falling to the ground while I stayed afloat. I looked down at him with a happy smile on my face.

"You really mean that, Inuyasha? You think I'm special?"

"I'd think you were even more special if you would've told me about the weak branch I didn't happen to notice." He lied in place with his foot twitching.

I flew down and grabbed his hand to help him up. "Heheh, sorry about that. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He brushed himself off.

"You guys ready to go?" Shippo came up to us.

I nodded. "Sure, is Miroku finished?"

"Almost. He had one more house to do." Shippo hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder and I put my notebook and marker back in my bag and we headed over to where everyone else was. Dr. Gensu was thanking Miroku for his help and bowing to him.

Miroku bowed back politely. "My pleasure, doctor."

"Safe travels to you all."

"Dr. Gensu, could you please have your messenger deliever this letter for me two villages to the south?" I asked, handing him the tri-folded letter with Toka's name on it and a smilie face in the bottom right corner. He took the letter with a smile. "And thank you so much for all of your help." I bowed. He returned the gesture with sincerity.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

_Kagome_

I gave a long sigh as I listened to the constant bickering between Inuyasha an Koga behind me. Since Koga wasn't ready to go back to his tribe, he decided to tag along with us for a while. I couldn't be anymore happier than to be spending more time with him since he was never really around, but him being here reminded me yet again how much he and Inuyasha hated each other.

The whole time we detoured on our way to Sakura and Ayame's castle, nobody else really talked much. There would be little comments here and there but nothing too serious. At one point my mind drifted back to the fight from yesterday. To say the least, it was pretty insane. There was so much going on, I could hardly keep up with making sure everyone was okay. They were all doing fine with holding their own, though. I was even surprised that Shippo was actually fighting this time, and helping to protect me at that. He would usually run way and hide but I was proud at him for standing his ground. Given, he is still a kid, he's shown me and everyone else how much he's grown over time.

I felt bad for Sakura and Ayame and how Naraku had put them up against their parents like that. They couldn't just turn away from the fight and Kagura did say she wasn't controlling them so there was no way she could have stopped what was about to happen. Thankfully we were able to get them some immediate help. They both seem to be doing so much better today and I was glad.

All I suffered from was the blast of Kagura's Dance of Blades technique. I was grateful that Shippo thought fast and transformed into a big pink balloon at the last minute to keep me from crashing into the cave walls. He wasn't hurt and I was left exhausted with one of the worst headaches in my life. Speaking of, I felt one coming on right about now.

"Yeah right, mutt! I'd run out of fingers counting how many times you put Kagome in danger!"

"If it happened it was never intentional. I'd never let Kagome get hurt. I'd run out of fingers counting the times _you_ weren't there to even protect her!"

"She knows I have responsibility and a duty to lead my tribe. I see her when I can."

"Oh yeah, well you should maybe start coming around more often to check on her since you love her so much."

"You just focus on doing a better job at keeping her safe when i'm not around! Some best friend you are."

"Will you two shut up, already?" I yelled, fed up with their arguing. I turned around on my bike and glared at the both of them, shutting them up instantly.

"Somebody's got it bad. An over-protective best friend who puts her in constant danger and an over-protective love interest who hates her best friend. Way to go, Kagome." Sango winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Says the one whose got someone wrapped around their finger."

Sango huffed and lowered her eyes at me. "If that was even close to being the case, that person wouldn't be such a womanizer or pervert."

"My dear, Sango, please forgive me." Miroku slyly placed his hand to her backside and gently rubbed it. "I may flirt with other women but at the end of the day, it is you that I really want. After we defeat Naraku you will be all mine, I promise."

There was a loud smack and Inuyasha stepped over Miroku as he fell to the ground. Sango kept her stride and walked with her head high. "Yeah, right." She said, loud enough for him to hear.

Shippo turned around in my bike basket and looked through the spaces in my arms to peek at Miroku on the ground dealing with his love strike. "Looks like you really gave it to him this time, Sango."

I shook my head and laughed, pressing the breaks on my bike as Sakura and Ayame stopped in front of a castle surrounded by beautiful Cherry Blossom trees. Petals flew everywhere as a soft breeze came and went.

"So, this is it?" I asked no one in particular. the surrounding trees gave me a sense of tranquility. The stone of the outside of the castle was a mixture of dark and light grey as a result of a past fire. I didn't know the details of Shinobu and Akira's deaths but I do remember fire being involved from talking to Sakura and Ayame this morning before we left the previous village.

The sisters pushed open the doors and I hopped off my bike, sitting it aside on the wall near the entrance on the inside. They closed them back once we were all inside and silently scanned the area.

"Yeah, this is it." Ayame answered my question.

If you had no idea of this places' history, you couldn't even tell that there had been any trouble. Colorful flowers lined the stone walls and the two watch towers on each side. There was a water well right beside the watch tower to the left and a large space in front of a shrine area.

"Wait, this is a dojo?" I gave the "shrine" a second look and went inside one of the doors to see many weapons hanging on the walls with names written on scrolls that were also hanging up.

"Yeah. Our family would train the children of our family in classes and teach them basic fighting techniques for hand-to-hand combat. They showcased their skills in this space as they we paired up to spar with one another." Ayame explained, gesturing to the space in front of the dojo. "They even trained orphan children and let them stay here until they were old enough to go out on their own."

"That was very nice of them." I commented. I stepped back outside and admired the beautiful glass wind chimes. "So, someone has been here. The upkeep is amazing."

"Yeah. But I can't pick up on anyone's scent, so I wonder who it could be." Ayame leaned on one of the beams and tilted her head.

"Ayame!" We turned to our right to see Sakura coming around the corner. "You should come see this."

Without a word, Ayame followed Sakura to the far end of the dojo and turned the corner to the left. At the end of that hall was another opening to the right. When we reached it, there was a large garden and what looked like half of it was filled with graves.

_Ayame_

I slowly stepped off the dojo porch and walked through what used to be a full garden beside my family's castle. There had to be at least twenty graves before me, all of which had my family members and other familiar names carved in stones. The family that I last remember seeing before Kaede took Sakura and I away so our lives would be spared.

I prayed over each grave i passed and only hoped that each of their souls were at peace. I stepped between them and made my way through a small field of flowers to get to the middle where Sakura sat in the grass and stared at the last two graves I had yet to pray over.

"I'm...glad." I heard her say, her voice soft but not cracking. "Those really were puppets that Naraku had us fighting."

I knelt down in the warm grass beside her in a bowing position and felt her lean forward before I prayed for our parents' souls to be at peace. I sat up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as the wind blew cherry blossom petals around us.

"I'm glad, too." I smiled. My wrist pulsed and I looked o see my okurimono showing up on my skin. I transformed from my human form to demon form, feeling more comfortable on my own land. "You feel that?" I looked down and Sakura ran her fingers over my father's marking.

"Yeah."

"Hey..." Sango slowly approached us. "You two okay?"

Sakura and I stood, still staring at our parents' resting places. "We're fine." I answered. "Naraku didn't use their real bodies to fight us after all."

Sango smiled. "That's a relief." Kilala mewed and jumped off of Sango's shoulder into my arms.

"Come on, why don't we show you guys the rest of the place and I make us some dinner? We can stay here tonight." I happily offered, all of a sudden in a much better mood than since the past couple of days.

"That's fine with me. I'm pretty hungry." Inuyasha came up and stood beside Sango, rubbing his stomach.

"Well, let's go!" Sakura grabbed his hands and skipped towards the main entrance of the castle.

After dinner was finished, everyone got to roaming around the castle and we all ended up at the dojo. I plopped down on the large cushion facing the wall that was naked of weapons. I sat back and watched Miroku scan them all and picked up one of the swords to examine it.

"I miss fighting with all of this stuff." Sakura picked up some kunai and forced them at the naked wall I was facing, sending them flying right through it. "Oops. I guess I forgot about how light they were to me."

"Or how strong you are, rather." I said. "You know you're gonna fix that, right?"

"Yes, I know, mom." She placed her hads on her hips.

"Hey, can I see those?" Sango asked her. Sakura showed her how to place them between her fingers. "Why, these are pretty cool."

"They aren't light at all." Kagome struggled to hold them as easily as Sango did.

"Because you aren't used to holding weapons." Inuyasha pointed out, sitting beside me.

"So, you throw them like this?" Sango tried her hand at handling the kunai and was surprisingly good at it. "I love them already!"

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, now. There's no need in perfecting their use if you don't have any of your own to use." Miroku said nervously.

"Actually, we have tons of these. You're welcome to them if you'd like, Sango." Sakura offered like the asshole she is.

I laughed. Miroku was nervous because if he misbehaved again Sango would have a new toy to torture him with to teach him a lesson. Sango beamed and grabbed two cloth rolls which equaled twenty kunai in her possession.

"Miroku, if you're so worried about Sango having those then you really are hopeless." I shook my head.

"Me? Worried? No, I'm not worried at all." He tried to play it off, watching Sango examine the sharp weapons like she was already ready to put them to use.

If you say so." I sang, knowing he was lying.

"I'm gonna turn in." Inuyasha grabbed his Tetsusaiga up from between us and was preparing to stand up.

"Tired already?" I asked. The sun hadn't even set all the way.

"Eh, something like that." He shrugged.

I shrugged as well. "You remember how to get to your room? You don't need an escort, do you?" I made him smirk.

"I'm a dog demon, remember? Dogs have great memory. I'll get there, no problem."

"Of course I know they have great memory. I'm half of what you are. I just wanted to make sure."

Koga leaned in the doorway where Inuyasha was leaving out at. "Maybe you should do something about your memory so you can remember to protect Kagome better when I'm not around."

"Koga!" Kagome stepped up to him, coming up to his shoulders. "Leave Inuyasha alone."

"I'm just lettin' him know."

"I've heard it all the way from the village to here! Zip it." Koga crossed his arms and groaned and Kagome turned to her best friend. "You're gonna be okay?'

"Just peachy." Inuyasha threw his arms behind his head and walked towards the main castle.

"The place looks really good. I wish I could pick up the scent of whose been here." Sakura said as we sat in the library. Everyone had gone to their rooms and turned in while we stayed up and talked for the past three hours. We were both reflecting on our home and just saying how relieved we were to see that someone buried all of our family that had been killed.

"Me too. But, for now, I'm just glad that it was done." I stood up from my chair and stretched. "I'm tired. I'm gonna go to bed now." I rubbed my dark green eyes.

"You won't think it's weird to be sleeping in your old room again?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Not really, but I do remember my bed being comfortable as hell so I'm about to go away to dreamland on that king-sized mattress." I said, making her laugh.

"I'm going to go meditate in the garden if you need me." She put a few books back in their place on one of the many bookshelves in the room. "Goodnight."

"Night." As soon as I got to my room, I changed into something comfortable to sleep in and jumped onto my soft bed, sinking into the large pillows my mother brought back to me from present Japan. Surprisingly, they still smelled like her. Not a lot, but they held just the slightest scent of her. It was enough for me to go to sleep with a smile on my face. I was happy to be home and in my bed for a change...and even more happy to know that my family was officially resting in peace.


End file.
